What Happens in Făgăraș, Stays in Făgăraș
by OakStone730
Summary: Side-story to Twist of Fate that tells what happens to Harry after he flees to Romania following Draco's trial. Complete Spoiler to Twist of Fate. Warnings: Language, Lime, some angst. Main Pairing: HP/CW Complete pairing list inside. Timeframe: 2000-2003; Flashbacks to 1998 and earlier.
1. Chapter 1

**Twist of Fate:** This story is a side story to my story, Twist of Fate. It will not make much sense if you haven't read Twist. Twist is primarily HP/DM.

** Pairings:** For those who need all pairings, let's see what we have here: CW/OC (Simon), HP/CW (past/present), HP/DM (past/future), HP/GW (past). No infidelity. **Additional warnings:** Language. Lime. Angst (but nothing like that angst in Twist).

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**12:45 a.m. New Year's Day, 2000.**

**No. 12 Grimmauld Place**

Charlie looked around the rooftop terrace until he spotted Malfoy leaning against the house away from the rest of the crowd celebrating the New Year. He turned and made sure that Harry was still talking to a group of friends. Picking up his glass he walked towards Malfoy. Malfoy casually glanced over to see who was coming up to him. He straightened up as he saw Charlie and looked challengingly at him.

"Malfoy."

"Weasley."

"Has Harry told you why he and I stopped seeing each other?" Charlie asked idly as he set down his glass on the railing.

"He gave me some story about not wanting to hurt Ginny and Ron's feelings," Malfoy said, looking back at Charlie. "What was it really?"

"He talks in his sleep," Charlie said, forcing his voice to stay quiet.

Malfoy laughed, "Tell me something I don't know."

Charlie fought the temptation to slap the smile off his face and shrugged, "I'm a pretty easy-going bloke but there is a limit to how many times you can hear your lover calling out someone else's name in his sleep." Malfoy looked over at him sharply and Charlie shook his head, "I knew it wasn't his fault, he couldn't control what was happening in that head of his that you screwed up. But he felt guilty and didn't know what to do. We decided he should take a year to get sorted out. Figure out what he really wanted," Charlie took a sip of his beer and set the glass back down.

"When was the year up?"

"Last week," Charlie glanced over his shoulder at where Harry was still talking. "I think it is pretty obvious who he wants."

"It is his choi-" Malfoy spat back but Charlie cut him off by wrapping his fingers around Malfoy's throat and squeezing.

He leaned forward and whispered in his ear, "I just want to make it perfectly clear. If you give Harry the slightest reason to doubt his decision. If you hurt him, I will come after you and no one will ever find your body when I'm done with you. Then I will pick up the shattered pieces and put Harry back together again like I did last year. I will make love to him night and day until the only name he remembers is mine. Understand?"

Malfoy nodded. Charlie let go and patted him on the shoulder. Picking up his pint glass he smiled at Malfoy, it was worth it seeing the look on the cocky bastard's face. "Glad we had this little chat."

He turned and made his way down the stairs, intent on leaving Harry's house. Someone called out his name but he didn't stop, just continued to make his way through the throngs of partygoers as quickly as he could. At last he was down in the kitchen and he was heading towards the back door when he heard his name shouted out again. Looking over his shoulder he saw Simon coming down the steps towards him.

"Charlie, wait up."

Swearing under his breath he threw open the back door and ran up the stairs to the alleyway, tripping on the last step.

"Charlie, hold up-" Simon was closer now and Charlie hesitated for a moment but then drew his wand intent on apparating away. He would make it up to Simon but right now he just had to get away. He turned, as he did he felt a hand grab ahold of his arm just as he was disaparating.

Charlie stumbled as he landed when Simon crashed into him. Charlie looked at him in shock, "Are you crazy? You could have splinched us both!" he shouted as he pushed Simon away from him.

"I want to help. I know what you are going through," Simon said to him, holding his hands up defensively, "Let me help."

Charlie turned away from Simon, furious that he had intruded, "I don't want help. I just need to be alone. Please leave, Simon," he added wearily. He liked the man but he couldn't mask what he was feeling any longer.

"You are hurting. Let me help," Simon repeated. He took a step closer.

"Just leave, Simon," the words came out raspy, his breathing unsteady.

Simon came up behind Charlie. "Let me help. Close your eyes and let me be who you need me to be tonight."

Charlie turned around to look at him, "What? No!"

"I've been where you are, I understand," Simon said, "Close your eyes."

He reached up and stroked Charlie's face. "Close your eyes," he ghosted a kiss on Charlie's neck, "Let me be him for you tonight."

"You don't know what you're saying," Charlie said angrily. Simon shook his head.

"I do know. It's okay. This isn't about us. I know you love him. I know you're hurting. Just let me be him for you tonight. Say goodbye to him," Simon rubbed himself against Charlie, "Don't think about it just close your eyes and do it." With a moan, Charlie closed his eyes and Simon kissed him again. "What do you need? Rough or gentle?" Simon pulled back Charlie's collar and bit him hard on the shoulder blade.

Something snapped. In one fluid move he grabbed Simon and shoved him against the table so hard that it skidded across the floor. In that moment, he remembered the acrid smell of smoke from the wood fire the night he'd walked into Harry's room in the dragon camp infirmary and found him with one of the other rookie wranglers. He'd sent the fool out of the room and turned to Harry and snarled, _"If you want to experiment, if you want to know what it is like to be with a man, you do it with me." "Then fucking do it," Harry had shouted, "I've been doing everything I could to show you I was interested and -"_

Charlie pulled apart Simon's shirt and remembered the frustration he'd felt that night two years before when he couldn't touch Harry's chest because of the healing wounds and he fell to his knees and yanked at the belt buckle and unfastened his jeans. He lost all thought of who he was touching and why as he just remembered what that first time had been like with Harry. When he'd been his and his alone.

OoOOOO

The next morning Charlie woke up and froze when he felt someone's arm draped over his chest. In a rush the events of the night before came back to him. Barely stifling a groan, he remembered Simon's words and his own reaction.

"You're awake," Simon's low voice whispered in his ear, "I can tell."

"Yeah," Charlie admitted reluctantly. He shifted to look over at Simon, "About last night-"

"Don't worry about it. You needed someone and I wanted it to be me," Simon said, "No regrets on my part."

"But, bloody hell. I shouldn't have..." Charlie winced suddenly as he remembered slamming him against the table and biting him...and other things. "Merlin, Simon, why did you let me - do you feel okay?"

"Honestly, a little rougher than I'm used to, but hot enough to make up for every ache I'm feeling now," Simon's hand was still resting on Charlie's chest. He drew his forefinger down it, "I'm more concerned on how you are doing. How do you feel?"

Charlie flopped back on his pillow and cover his eyes with his arm, "I hurt you. Fuck, I'm sorry. I lost my head. I don't usually, I mean I'm not usually so...Godric's left tit be damned, I can't even blame it on being drunk-"

"I said it was okay and I meant it."

"Why did you do it? Why would you even want to..." Charlie turned so he was facing Simon, propping his head up on his hand.

"You needed to get him out of your system. You can call it what you want, a revenge or a good-bye fuck. I know what it is like to be so torn up inside that you are feel like you are going to explode-"

"It isn't like that. I knew Harry wasn't mine, not really," Charlie said slowly, shaking his head. "I knew when he left Făgăraș. Hell, that was over a year ago."

"Doesn't mean you don't still love him. You've done a decent job of covering up how you feel but I knew behind the smile you had plastered on your face last night that you were hurting. He may have left Romania last year but it had to hurt seeing him with-"

"Don't remind me," Charlie fell back against the pillow. He stared at the ceiling remembering the sight of Harry dancing in Draco Malfoy's arms the night before. Until that moment he'd hung on to some hope that Harry would be able to walk away from whatever power Malfoy held over him. "Still, what you said about..and then I just...used you."

"It is okay, I wanted you to do it. I don't think it is a St. Mungo's approved therapy technique but..." Charlie looked over at Simon as he hesitated, "Someone did it for me a long time ago. And, it was what I needed at the time. It kept me alive when I thought I wasn't going to make it."

"After Cedric..."

Simon nodded, "I never got to say goodbye, no last kiss or I love you. He just walked into that bloody maze with a wave of his hand and the next time I saw him he was dead in Harry's arms," he took a deep breath and shrugged. "I was in rough shape for a long time. The only reason I kept my job at Gringotts was because of your brother, Bill. That first year he covered for me more times than I care to admit."

"How did you come around?"

"One night I ended up in a Muggle bar. It was months after Cedric died and I was horny as hell and was drinking to get the courage to try and have a one-off with someone. I just wanted to feel something other than numb. A bloke came up to me and started talking to me, really talking, asking questions. And I just let loose about Cedric. It felt good, to finally talk about him. And this complete stranger didn't offer platitudes or say that time would heal the pain. He just took me back to his flat and he said what I said to you: Let me be him tonight. Then let him go and start living your life again like he would have wanted you to do."

Charlie nodded, "And you did it, you pretended he was Cedric."

"I protested, like you did, but after a couple of minutes I closed my eyes and suddenly I was just imagining what it would be like to have his kisses be Cedric's. To have one more night with him. To be able to feel him against me one last time. And I did it."

"What happened to the bloke?"

"Never saw him again. He held me as I cried like a baby and I fell asleep in his arms. In the morning he saw me to the door and wished me well. I left and was shocked to realize that I felt a little bit better and every day after that it did get a little easier. It was if he had released the ghost and I could finally move on."

"Is that what you are going to do? Just leave?"

Simon laughed and Charlie was surprised at how much he liked the sound of it, "Yes and no. I want to get to know you better. I had a lot of fun when we went out for dinner last week. But...there is no way we can be more than friends until you've had time to get over Harry. So yeah, I guess for now this was a one-off, but when you think you're ready, really ready, send me an owl. Anytime you want to just talk before then, let me know."

Charlie hesitated, "How about a two-off? This time with my eyes open. With you, not me fucking a memory." He watched the conflicting emotions play across Simon's face. "You were right. I probably did need it last night, but I don't usually-I mean-it was always rough with Harry, at least at the beginning. He had so much anger in him then that it was the only way it could be, but I don't usually -bloody hell. I just don't want that to be your only memory of me, taking you like that. I know what it is like to have someone dreaming about someone else, saying someone else's name. This time I want to do it right."

Simon hesitated and Charlie took that as an answer he moved quickly and straddled Simon's hips. He winced as he saw the red bite marks that he'd left on Simon. Leaning down he gently kissed each one. He heard Simon suck in his breath and he ground against him. "Let me do this, call it a promissory note for when-" he was cut off as Simon reached up and kissed him.

"I don't know where that falls in my unlicensed sex therapy rules but I'd be a fool to turn it down." Simon gasped as Charlie grabbed a hold of his hand and started sucking his fingers, "Sweet Circe." he murmured as Charlie smiled and shifted forward to give him easier access.

OooOO

A couple of hours and one shared shower later Simon sat down on Charlie's bed and started pulling on his jeans. Charlie opened a drawer and tossed him a clean shirt. "Thanks," Simon looked around and hesitated, "Mind if I ask where exactly we are?"

Charlie laughed, "Guess I didn't give you the formal tour last night, did I? This is my brother George's flat, above his shop."

"That makes sense. I was hoping it wasn't your folk's place and we would be sitting down for breakfast with them."

Charlie laughed, "Definitely not the Burrow. That is out in Devon. We are right on Diagon Alley. What would you like for breakfast? We could try and find a place open on New Year's Day or I could rustle something up for us."

"You don't have to feed me, I've intruded enough. I'm sure you just want some time to yourself-"

"I hardly call what you've been doing as an intrusion," Charlie laughed and walked over to Simon and rubbed his hand down his arm, "Well, I guess one could say you did intrude, but it was more than welcome."

"If you are sure, then let's stay in," Simon said, "When is your brother going to be back?"

"George? He'll probably spend the day at Grimmauld Place. I think he promised Harry he would help with the clean-up," Charlie grimaced a little, "I suppose that could change, considering last night's developments. Harry might want the place to himself... and Malfoy."

"I admit this all has put me in a bit of an awkward place. I am friends with both Draco and Harry. I've seen both sides of what they have been going through."

"You want them together," Charlie stated it as a fact.

Simon answered cautiously, "I do, I am probably the only person alive who saw them together back then. They were in love and it seemed pretty real to me. I could see it in how they looked at each other, supported each other."

"I know," Charlie said sadly, "I read Cedric's letters. We read them together in Făgăraș when Harry finally broke down and decided to read them. I could read between the lines what Cedric was saying."

"Harry doesn't know you love him, does he? Can't imagine he would put you through reading them if he knew."

Charlie turned away and went to pick up the dirty laundry from the floor and threw it in the hamper. He felt like telling Simon to mind his own business but felt compelled to tell someone. He had kept it a secret for so long, "No. He was so messed up when he arrived that he just needed someone to take away the pain he was feeling. Everything that had happened. Everything coming out during Malfoy's trial. He was so fucking angry," he turned to look at Simon, "And I gave him what he needed, no strings attached. I wanted to help. Just like you were here for me last night. I was there for him. It isn't his fault I was already half in love with him beforehand and having him with me just tipped the bucket to full."

"You didn't try to tell him?"

"Hell, no. I knew he just needed someone to take his mind off of everything that happened," Charlie shook his head and said, "This it isn't going to get us anywhere. Come on, I'll make us breakfast."

Simon prepared the tea and then sat down to watch Charlie moving easily around the kitchen, pulling out eggs, vegetables and bacon on to the counter. "You seem pretty at ease in the kitchen."

"Well, I've been on my own for years now. We have a cantina at the dragon camps but I don't always feel like joining the crowd, other times I'm out in field retrieving dragons or searching for dragon eggs," Charlie turned to the hob and lit it with his wand, he set the pan on the ring and started to preparing the omelettes.

"Who taught who how to make omelettes?" Charlie heard the question and turned around to stare at Simon who was holding his teacup and looking expectantly at Charlie.

"What?"

"You make omelettes exactly like Harry does. I was just wondering who taught who?"

"You are going to make me talk about him, aren't you?"

Simon nodded, "Somehow, I have the feeling if I don't you are going to go back to Făgăraș and not deal with all of this," he motioned with his hand towards the stove.

"You look like a nice bloke on the outside but you really are a bastard," Charlie muttered as he turned back with a curse to the pan where the bubbling egg mixture was almost ready.

"I do have a vested interest in this, so, yes. I'm going to do whatever it takes to help you," Simon said, "And, you still haven't answered the question."

"I learned from Harry," Charlie admitted looking over his shoulder at Simon, "But I will deny every word if you say something to my mother. She swears that you should add an eggshell of water for every three eggs. Harry taught me otherwise." He flipped the edge of the omelette and then slid it onto the plate. "Harry and I had an omelette cook-off and I had to admit that his were better than how Mum taught me." He turned back and started making the next omelette.

"Tell me about what happened. You said you were already half in love with him when he came to Făgăraș."

Charlie stiffened but didn't turn around to look at Simon, "I really don't think-"

"He was just 18 when he came to the camps, wasn't he?" Simon asked softly.

"Yes, just a kid, but he'd already seen more horror than most see in a lifetime. I'd seen Harry grow up. Not very often mind, just here and there. And Ginny always wrote about him in her owls, of course." Charlie said with a sigh as he slid the finished second omelette onto the next plate and brought them over to the table. He sat down across from Simon. "Why do you want to hear all this?"

"Because you need to talk about it with someone and I would like for it to be me."

"Just like last night?"

Simon laughed and Charlie noticed for the first time the dimple that appeared when he did, "I do want it to be me. I'd forgotten about your sister dating Harry."

"You are probably the only one," Charlie said with a laugh, "Ginny had a rough time when everything came out. She never let it show, kept that chin of hers up in the air and ignored all the gossip and the horrible accounts in the paper."

"That is why you and Harry kept everything quiet?"

Charlie slid the second omelette onto a plate and shrugged, "One of the reasons. But mostly it was because it was just us. I come from a big family, everyone always in each other's business. When I'm in Făgăraș I can escape that and it is nice. And, Harry, he'd already been through hell. He didn't need anyone shoving a camera at us when we were going out for dinner."

"Do you think that-" Whatever Simon was going to say was cut-off by the crack of someone apparating into the flat.

Charlie cursed and then looked at Simon, "Bugger, That is going to be my brother, George. He and I are the only ones who can apparate into the flat. I'll apologize ahead of time for anything-"

"Hey, Charlie! I can't believe you skipped out..." George's voice cut off as he saw them sitting at the table. "Well, I guess you had a good reason to abandon the party." George looked from Charlie to Simon with a loopy grin on his face, "Didn't realize we had company."

"Geoge, this is Simon. Simon, my brother George who is going to behave himself," Charlie said, his mouth stretched taut.

"I'll behave myself if you make me some breakfast."

"Didn't you eat at Harry's?" Charlie grumbled even as he stood up and walked over to the counter and picked up an egg and cracked it into a bowl. He knew that George was a force of nature that couldn't be stopped.

"Always room for more," George sat down on next to Simon, "Besides, it will give me a chance to chat with Simon here. You are on the Foundation board with Harry aren't you?"

Charlie looked over at Simon and shrugged. There wasn't much point in telling George to mind his own business, he always ended up knowing it all anyway.

Simon nodded, "Yes, I'm on the board with Harry, have been from the start."

"And, if I'm not mistaken you were Charlie's date last week." George waggled his eyebrows. "Quick work, brother. Didn't think you moved that fast. It took you how long to-"

"Cut it. George. Or you'll be cooking your own meals all week." Charlie waved the fork that he was using to whisk the eggs at him.

"Right," George turned back to Simon, "So, did you enjoy the fireworks last night?"

"Bloody hell, George! What did I just tell you?" Charlie exclaimed.

"It is okay, Charlie. I liked the fireworks just fine. Yours and the Muggle ones as well."

"And Charlie's?" George said with a wink.

Simon laughed as Charlie whipped around and threw an egg at George who dodged it with no effort, turning to watch it smash against the wall and slither down the wall in a mess of yolk and shattered egg shells.

"Temper, temper. Charlie, remember what Mum always said."

"I seem to recall that she said you would be the death of her," Charlie grumbled as he turned back to the stove, regretting that he hadn't insisted that he and Simon go out for breakfast. He carefully flipped the omelette, "Surprised you're not still sleeping."

"It is nearly noon," George said with a laugh. "I cleared out so that Harry and Malfoy could have some space."

Charlie swore as his hand jerked as he was sliding the omelette onto the plate and it fell on the counter.

Simon said, "Did a lot of people end up spending the night? I know that Harry was worrying about people trying apparate drunk." Charlie knew that Simon was trying to deflect George's attention away from him and was grateful. He flipped the omelette onto the plate and grabbed a towel to wipe the counter, wondering what his family would say if he left to go back to Romania sooner than expected. Even as he thought he knew he couldn't do it, Harry would suspect something and that is the last thing he wanted.

"The anti-apparation charm worked perfectly," George smiled, "Anyone too drunk to apparate ended up just where they started. I think we had twenty or so sleepover. Most had cleared out already. I left because Draco came back. Figured Harry would want us all out."

"Malfoy came back? What do you mean? Didn't he..." Charlie levitated the plate over to George and came over and sat down next to Simon. Simon reached over and rubbed his arm but didn't say anything.

"You would have thought he'd spend the night after the big show that they put on, but he left before two even. I asked Harry why and he just smiled and didn't say anything. Malfoy and Harry? Whoever saw that coming?" George said as he picked up his fork.

"But Malfoy came back this morning?" Charlie said as he rolled his mug in between his palms. He didn't dare look over at Simon, how could he look into the eyes of the man he just had sex with and know that he knew that Charlie was wishing he was still with Harry, that Draco Malfoy was nothing but a forgotten speck in Harry's past.

"Sure, and the two of them disappeared up to the top floor right quick. So, I figured I may as well come home and give you grief. Which brings us back to Simon, here."

Before Charlie could object, Simon shook his head and stood up. "I'm afraid I have to be off. You'll have to save the inquisition for later. I'm sure my flatmate is wondering where I've been." He looked at Charlie, "See me out?"

"Sure. Actually I have let you out, George has the security pretty tight because of the shop you have to be outside to apparate." Charlie turned and gave George two fingers as he headed out with Simon. George just laughed and made a crude gesture back.

"I'm really sorry about that, Simon. I didn't think-"

"Absolutely no worries. You are lucky to have brothers to joke around like that with, who can give you a hard time."

"That's right, you were an only child, weren't you?" Charlie said as they came down to the bottom of the stairs that led to the outside door. Charlie took out his wand and released the wards to unlock the door. They stepped out onto Diagon Alley which was still empty even though it was almost noon.

Simon nodded, "Are you going to be okay?"

Charlie nodded, "Yeah. I'm in a lot better shape than if I had come back and drank the bottle of firewhiskey like I had intended to do last night." He reached out and put his arms around Simon's waist. Simon leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. The gesture was gentle, none of the passion that they had shared just a few hours earlier.

"I'm glad. I may as well say the cliché, even though you may not believe it right now, time does help. I want you to firecall or send me an owl if you ever need to talk."

Charlie smiled and shook his head, "Whinging isn't my style, I just need to get back to the dragons," he hesitated, "Thank you, for everything. No one has ever done anything like that for me before."

Simon laughed, "Let me know when you are next back in town. We can meet up for lunch."

"Not dinner? Dancing?"

Simon shook his head, "Take your time. I like you, a lot. I don't want to catch you on the rebound and have you regret it."

Charlie started to deny that it would be on the rebound but he knew that Simon already knew better. "I'll do that," With a wave of his hand Simon disapparated. Charlie stared at the empty space where he had been. For the first time he wondered how Simon had known how he felt about Harry. Even his family hadn't known that they had had a relationship until last week and even then Charlie had brushed it off as something that had been over a year ago, and they had believed him. For a moment he wondered if Harry knew and had something to Simon, but quickly dismissed the thought. He'd been careful to never let Harry know how much he felt for him. It wasn't fair to burden him with one more thing.

Sighing, he turned and went back up the stairs. The last thing he needed right now was more ribbing from George. To his relief when he walked back into the flat George was stretched out on the sofa, sound asleep with his mouth gaped open. Considering how hard George had been partying the night before it didn't surprise him, it had almost been like George had been trying to make up for Fred not being there.

He quietly went back to his room and closed the door. Throwing himself onto the bed he stared up at the ceiling. As much as he wanted to forget, needed to forget, it was impossible.


	2. Maida

Needed: Romanian translator. I really wanted to use some Romanian dialogue in the story, lacking a translator I used Google Translator. If you would like to help me out and translate the dialogue properly, I would be very appreciative. Along the same line, I apologize for any inaccuracies on the Romanian culture, geography and traditions. All errors are mine.

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**Romania, September 1998**

Charlie leaned against the tree, waiting at the portkey landing site. Like many things in the Făgăraș it was rustic, a couple of rough hewn benches and a bored bureaucrat waiting for the first arrivals of the morning. Sitting on the bench next to Charlie was Andrei the grizzled owner of the general store in the wizarding side of Râşnov. They chatted idly about Quidditch as they waited. Andrei didn't ask who Charlie was waiting for and Charlie didn't volunteer the information. Life was different in the dragon camps and Râşnov. Whatever it was that brought them from the far parts of the wizarding world to the camps also prompted the residents to respect one another's privacy.

There was a rush of air and in a swirl of wind and a mist of blue and silver appeared in the landing zone. Andrei stood up and made his way over to the stack of newspapers and crates that now stood on the ground. He waved to Sandu, the customs official, who waved dismissively back. Charlie watched as the old man hoisted the stack of papers on his shoulders and made his way to his cart. Charlie grabbed the stack of crates and brought them to Andrei who was still shifting the papers onto the cart.

"_Mulţumesc_, Charlie," Andrei said as Charlie slid the crates next to the papers. "For your kindness." He slid a Daily Prophet from the stack and gave it to Charlie.

"_Mersi,_" Charlie took the paper and watched as Andrei climbed slowly onto the cart bench and flicked the reins to get his mule moving. Making his way back to the bench he sat down and looked down at the paper. Harry's face stared back at him. The almost full page photograph showed an angry Harry brushing past a crowd heading into a Ministry courtroom, just visible behind Harry was Ron and Hermione. The headline "Harry Potter's Secret Love Affair" filled the top half of the paper.

Charlie crumbled up the paper and threw it in the bin next to him. Bill had already written to him and filled him on what had happened to Harry. It had been that owl that had prompted Charlie to invite Harry to Romania. Harry had responded almost immediately accepting the invitation. The fact that Charlie hadn't received Howlers from the rest of his family meant that Harry probably hadn't shared his decision with them.

There was another column of color and swirling wind and Harry was standing there. Charlie stared at him; he hadn't seen Harry in person since May. It was hard to believe that he could look worse now than then, but he did. Always thin, Harry appeared gaunt and his jacket hung loosely from his shoulders. He looked around, getting his bearings and seeing Charlie he gripped his backpack a little tighter and walked towards him.

"Welcome to the Făgăraș," Charlie said as he drew up to Harry and shook his hand.

"Hiya, Charlie," Harry gave a grim smile and looked around at the mountains that surrounded them on all sides. He had only brought a small backpack and his broom. Charlie smiled at the sight of the familiar Firebolt that Harry had often used at games in the Weasley's back garden.

"Let's get you cleared with Sandu and then we can find some breakfast." Charlie motioned towards the customs official who was standing a few feet away. From the way he was anxiously rising up on his toes Charlie knew that Harry had been recognized. He pulled out a two galleon coin from his pocket as they approached Sandu. The leu notes had become so devalued in recent years that almost all transactions were now conducted in gold or galleons.

"_Bună dimineaţa_, Charlie." Sandu had an eager smile, his eyes were fixed on Harry.

Charlie clasped Sandu's hand, passing him the coin, "_Dimineaţa, Sandu. Prietenul meu va sta cu mine pentru un timp. Sperăm că el are o vizită de frumos liniştită_. _Da?" _The bureaucrat was from the capital where the same rules of discretion didn't apply. It never hurt to grease the wheels to make sure that Harry's privacy was preserved.

"_Da, Charlie. Eu va înregistra bagheta lui şi puteţi fi atât pe cale_." Sandu held his hand out to Harry who pulled his wand out of its holder and handed it to him. Sandu gave it a quick flick with his own wand and then tapped the ledge standing open in front of him. "_Bucuraţi-vă de sejurul dvs_.."

Charlie nodded his thanks to Sandu and quickly led Harry to where he had left two brooms leaning against a nearby tree, "I didn't know if you would bring your broom or not."

Harry's face broke into a genuine smile that was reminiscent of the Harry that Charlie remembered, "Couldn't not bring it. I've hardly done any flying in the past year and a half, eager to get back at it."

"You'll get some fair chances to fly, we have a Quidditch team in camp. We compete in the Romanian amateur league. And we use brooms to move from camp to camp, can't apparate because of the dragons," he explained as he slung the strap of the spare broom around his chest. "Let's go have breakfast in town and we'll head to camp afterwards, I'll give you the grand tour on the way."

Harry nodded, looking around. The clearing was surrounded by trees with the mountain peaks showing on all sides. "How high up are we? Air feels a lot different."

"We are at about 2,500 feet here in the valley, up where some of the camps are is as high as 4,000 feet. Can be a bit of an adjustment for a flatlander like yourself," Charlie mounted his broom and nodded to Harry, "I'll give you a lay of the land from the air after we have breakfast. Careful flying, the thinner air takes a little getting used to, just do a loop or two now and then I'll head us over towards town."

Charlie kicked off and then looked over his shoulder as Harry followed him. He did a couple of loops as he tested his Firebolt, accelerating through the loop he tipped his broom up and did a spiral barrel row straight into the sky. Charlie hovered in place just watching him move through the sky. He could remember the first time he'd seen Harry flying at the Triwizard, he'd been impressive back then and from here he looked like the same old Harry despite the obvious signs of exhaustion and tension.

Bill's owl had warned him about everything that had happened in the last weeks, but more worrying to Charlie was the ripples of magic that he had felt coming off of Harry in just the few minutes that they had stood in the clearing. Bill hadn't exaggerated when he had mentioned that Harry's magic was running wild. Charlie was glad that he had already planned to have breakfast in town. He needed to figure out how much control Harry had of his magic.

"Alright?"

Charlie looked over and realized that Harry was right next to him, "Hey, sorry, just gathering wool, let's go get breakfast."

Charlie motioned with his arm and turned to head around towards Râşnov. The wizarding side of the town was hidden in the thick forest that came up to the edge of the Muggle side. The entire village, its shops and homes, was built in the trees, dozens of feet above the ground. The ramshackle collection of structures was linked together by teetering rows of catwalks and suspension bridges. Confident that Harry wouldn't have any problem keeping up, Charlie zig-zagged through the towering trees until they were at Nutri, his favorite (and the only) cantina in Râşnov. He landed on the suspended bridge that connected restaurant to the rest of the village.

Harry laughed in delight as he stepped off his broom and peered over the edge at the ground that was thirty feet below them. "This is brilliant!"

"Hard to believe, isn't it?" Charlie said looking around, remembering what it was like the first time he had seen it, seven years earlier. "Been this way for hundreds of years, as the town grows they just add more bridges. Muggles walk underneath and never know we are up here."

"How do you manage that? Wards?"

"Little bit of everything," Charlie said, as two townspeople passed them on the bridge. "Let's eat."

"You and Ron are just the same, eat first, talk later."

"Good to have your priorities in the right place." Charlie glanced at Harry, "Looks like you could use a bit more food."

Harry shrugged and picked up his broom "Which way?"

"Right here, Râşnov's best cantina."

"How many do they have?"

"One," Charlie laughed as he pulled open the door. "Sure hope you like it," he slapped Harry on his shoulder as they entered. Even though it was bright sunshine above the trees, the cantina was dark, a side hazard of being in the middle of the forest where the sunlight couldn't penetrate. Floating balls of light cast down on the diners who all looked up to see who was entering. The chatter stopped and utensils were held in mid-air as they realized a stranger was entering. His hand still on Harry's shoulder Charlie felt him stiffen as they walked into the room.

Charlie nodded to everyone and murmured greetings as he pushed Harry towards a table in the back. Magically expanded the small cantina held over fifteen tables and Charlie sat down on the far side of the table. Harry glanced at the other chair and back at the room. Charlie could see him struggling with something and he slowly sat down, his back to the room. "Everything okay?"

Harry glanced over his shoulder at the rest of the room, "Yeah, fine," he said as he shifted the chair more towards the wall.

Charlie looked from Harry to the rest of the room, "Do you want to sit here?" motioning to his chair.

Harry hesitated then nodded. Charlie stood up and they switched chairs. Harry scanned the room carefully before looking at Charlie, "Thanks."

"Not a problem. I imagine it is tough to let your guard down after all this time."

Harry restlessly rearranged the silverware, "It's stupid, I know, just can't help but -"

"Harry, it is okay. How are Ron and Hermione? Did they give you a hard time about leaving?"

Harry laughed but didn't look up, "About now I imagine they are pretty ticked at me," he glanced quickly at Charlie and then looked away, "I didn't exactly tell them I was leaving."

"What? You just left?"

Harry shrugged as he scanned the room again, "I told them I was going yesterday and they got upset. So, I told them we would talk more today. Left before they got up."

"Merlin, Harry. What about Ginny...did you at least tell her you were coming here?" Charlie knew how concerned Ginny had been for Harry all summer. Her owls had abruptly stopped two weeks ago when Harry's relationship with Draco had been discovered. He knew she must be torn apart but not wanting to blame Harry for something that had been erased from his memory. Charlie could still see his mother's shaking handwriting in her owl that revealed that Ginny's relationship with Harry had been contrived, been forced, by Dumbledore. Ginny, he knew, was hurting as well was Harry.

Harry paled and Charlie just shook his head. "What? You sent her an owl?"

The quivers of magic that Charlie had been feeling coming off of Harry suddenly increased to waves. The silverware started vibrating on the table. Harry cursed and flattened his hands on top to stop the rattle. "Take it easy," Charlie said quietly, conscious that everyone else in the room was feeling what he was, "Just a few deep breaths."

Harry closed his eyes and nodded. He took two shaky breaths and with a final breath his shoulders relaxed and Charlie felt the magic drop just a little, enough. "That happen a lot?" Charlie asked, shifting in his chair. The problem was a lot worse than he had realized.

"You could say. Sorry, these last couple of weeks have been rough. Haven't gotten much sleep. It is worse when I'm overtired."

"Well, you should be able to catch up on that here. As a greenhorn you'll be on second shift." Charlie said casually as Marta walked up to the table.

"Charlie, _Ai fost un străin prea mult timp_."

"_Marta, eşti frumoasă în această d__imineaţă._"

"_Şi încă o dulce-vorbăreţ. Micul dejun pentru doua persoane? Balmoş_?"

Charlie glanced at Harry, "Coffee, okay for you? The tea isn't anything like-"

"Coffee is fine, thanks."

"_Da, cu cârnaţi şi cafea._"

After she left Harry looked over at Charlie, "You speak the language well."

"You'll pick it up the key phrases quick enough, but don't worry in the camps everyone speaks English," Charlie hesitated, not sure how he should broach the subject but it would be best to be honest with him, "Harry, we do have a slight problem. I didn't realize-I guess I should have-"

"What?"

"Your magic. Bill warned me about it but I just didn't think-"

"I'm not going to have any big blow ups here," Harry said hastily, "It was just a problem during the-

"I can feel it right now from across the table, Harry." Charlie glanced over his shoulder, "And, I imagine most people in this room can feel something. Any other place in the world it wouldn't matter but with the dragons..." Charlie trailed off.

"What about the dragons?"

"Magic stirs them up, just ordinary everyday magic. Wild magic," Charlie shook his head. "Wild magic is like giving whiskey to gnomes, makes them crazy."

Harry stiffened, "What? I can't stay?"

"No, no. I don't mean that. Just means that I need to think things through a little more. We are lucky. Most of the dragons are already starting to hibernate. Winter comes early up here and once they are hibernating it isn't as big a deal. Not all of them hibernate, though," Charlie tapped his fingers on the table, "We'll need to shield your magic, for now at least. Until you get a better handle on it."

"What do you mean shield?"

"Don't worry it isn't anything that will affect your magic permanently. George invented the shield. It is looks just like long underwear but it contains the magic. He uses it for when he is working with volatile potions, I use it when working around eggs that are about to hatch or very sensitive dragons."

"So you already have it? That's great." Harry said with relief.

"You won't think so after you've worn it for a couple of hours, it isn't that comfortable," Charlie said with a laugh, "You'll be as itchy as all get out. Tell you what, we'll take a walk around the main camp and get a feel. If there is any trouble you can retreat and I'll get the shield."

"That will work?"

"It better, too dangerous for everyone if it doesn't," Charlie looked apologetically at Harry, "I'm head wrangler. My job to keep everyone safe, not just-"

"Nah, I get it," Harry flushed and looked around the room, "Just one other bloody thing that is wrong with me."

"Hey. What the hell kind of attitude is that? Don't be a prat-" Charlie was going to say something more but Marta was back with the _balmoş_. She set the two bowls of corn porridge down and along with a platter of eggs and sausage in the middle of the table.

"Enjoy," She said to Harry with her thick accent. Harry nodded and then looked down at the bowl that was in front of him.

"What exactly is this?" he asked hesitantly, picking up his spoon and letting porridge slide off it with a plop back into the bowl.

Charlie laughed, "Balmoş. It is a kind of porridge boiled in sheep's milk. You'll get used to it, hard to find anything else for breakfast around here."

"You eat this every morning?"

"Sure. Or _mămăliga_, kind of the same thing but with sour cream and no sheep's milk. I like this better the sheep's milk adds a bit more flavor."

"Right," Harry took a tentative sample of it and then shrugged, "I've had worse."

Charlie picked up his own spoon and dug in. He watched as Harry subtly kept an eye on everyone in the room even as he was eating. When the people next to them stood up, Harry's right hand dropped below the table and Charlie had no doubt that he had drawn his wand.

"Harry. You're safe here. You don't have to worry. We've never had any trouble."

Harry glanced from the wizards who were making their way towards the exit to Charlie. His face was so easy to read, Charlie realized with a smile. Clearly he wanted to tell Charlie he was wrong but didn't want to be rude.

"Trust me. We don't have Death Eaters hiding among us. Everyone looked at you when you came in because you were a new face, they didn't care that it was your face. No one is going to tell the Prophet or any other newspaper that you are here. People in the camps and here don't trust strangers, and they certainly aren't going to send an owl letting the world that you are here. That is one of the reasons I invited you. Thought you could use that for a bit."

Harry took another look around and then sighed. Charlie watched as he forced himself to put away his wand away and pick up his spoon again.

"Hard habit to change." Harry said with a shrug, "Funny thing is, I wasn't this jumpy in London, of course we only went to Muggle places where no one would know us."

"I bet you always had your back to the corner, and checked to see where all the exits were?" Charlie asked softly. He knew how hard it had been for Harry on the run. Ron had revealed as much to Bill when he showed up unexpectedly at Christmastime. Charlie had never been more tempted to come back to England and beat a lesson into his youngest brother than he had been when he learned that Ron had deserted Harry and Hermione.

"Yeah," Harry said with a self-conscious laugh. "It was a lesson I learned early on. Night of Bill's wedding when we left we were almost caught by Death Eaters within the hour."

Charlie stared at him for a second, he'd seen them disappear from the tent at the wedding but he'd never heard the rest of the story. Shaking himself mentally he brought himself back to the present, "Only thing you have to fear here is the dragons. Everyone else will leave you alone. I should go over the rules of camp before we get there," Charlie shifted easily into boss mode, "First rule of the greenhorns, that's you, never question a direct order from the senior wranglers, that's me, Russ and Stephen. With dragons a few seconds can mean the difference between life and death. If we say stop, you stop. If we say run, you run. It takes years to learn how dragons react and what the danger is, do what we say and you won't die."

"Good to know," Harry said with a grin, "Right, what else?"

"As newest man in camp you'll get the shittiest jobs, and I do mean shite. Being Harry Potter won't pull any rank-" Charlie waved back Harry's protest, "I know you'd never expect to get favors, but you will be shoveling more than your fair share of manure until you prove yourself to the rest of the team. As well as chopping wood and kitchen duty peeling potatoes and washing dishes."

"That's fine. I'm just glad to be doing anything, it beats being in England right now. The reporters wouldn't leave me alone."

Charlie nodded, "That is the other thing, no worries about anyone in camp or town here flapping their mouths about you being here. And the unspoken rule is you never ask about anyone's past. If they volunteer something, you don't share it with others."

"I'm all for that."

Charlie nodded, "That's about it, do what you're told without question, don't complain about shoveling shite, and don't be a gossip."

Harry nodded, his fringe falling forward and he pushed it back with a restless hand, "Easy enough. Do you think that the magic shield will work?"

"Only one way to find out. You done?" He asked as he pushed back his own bowl.

OOOOooOOOOoO

Charlie pointed out the various camps as they circled high above to give Harry a lay of the land. "Camp One is over this way about five miles, it's the main camp. You'll be bunking with me," Charlie shouted to him as they turned towards home. Coming over the range towards the camp Charlie realized that something was very wrong down on the ground. Even from as far up as they were he could see people running through the camp and a fire was burning where it shouldn't be burning. Immediately, his eyes started scanning the sky. Sure enough, there were three other brooms up in the sky, in the standard search pattern they used when a dragon was loose in the woods.

"Careful, Harry. Keep an eye out, I think a dragon is out." Charlie cursed as he leaned down on his broom and made his way as quickly as possible towards the center of camp. "What the hell is happening?" Charlie shouted to Russ who was closest, as he landed. "Who got out?"

"Maida!" Russ said, running up to him. "She went crazy about an hour ago, broke free of her corral and went in the woods heading east."

"Bloody hell. She still has her weights on?" Charlie was scanning the forest. It could take weeks to find her in there. Harry had landed beside him and was looking around at the chaos curiously. The usually tightly run camp was in complete disarray.

"Yeah, couldn't shake them loose even though she tried."

"Okay. Harry, stay here. I'm going to take a -"

Suddenly, an excited shout behind them made them turn around. Charlie looked in disbelief as Maida burst out from the forest. The thirty foot Hungarian Horntail was racing straight towards them. "Shite!" Russ called out, pulling out his wand. Charlie glanced quickly the dragon to Harry. It took him only two seconds to make the connection but it was too late.

"Harry! Take off now! Get out of here!" Charlie shouted as he cast a spell to try and stop the dragon. To his horror the dragon went right through the shield and towards Harry who was standing rooted in the same spot, his wand raised. Russ had summoned the net and it was sailing through the air but Charlie knew that it wouldn't get there in time.

"NO!" was all that Charlie had time to shout before Maida lashed out her spiked tail and Harry went sailing across the encampment. He fell on in a crumpled heap forty feet away.

Charlie raced towards Harry and not even bothering to assess damage he picked him up and apparated directly to the infirmary. Landing in the middle of the ward, he shouted for the healer. Harry's entire chest was bright red and great splotches of blood dripped to the floor even as he was standing there. Fenton came running as Charlie set Harry's unconscious body on the bed.

"Horntail got him. He's allergic to the fire-"

"Get the replenishing and alovaria. If I don't get the bleeding stopped it won't matter anyway." Fenton said sharply. As Charlie summoned the potions he couldn't take his eyes off of Harry. Evans tore Harry's shirt open and their eyes met, Charlie swallowed hard. He had been cut open from front to back. Fenton grimly set to work. He quickly flushed the wound with alovaria, flooding the wound to wash out the worst of the debris. Setting the bottle down the healer pulled out his wand and started the incantations that would close the gaping wound.

The blood was pooling on the floor now, the sight of it forced Charlie into action. He had assisted Fenton enough to know what he should be doing. Pulling the stopper from the blood replenishing potion, he carefully tipped a little into Harry's mouth and massaged his throat until he swallowed. Charlie gave him a little more and repeated the process. It was dangerous giving potion to an unconscious person but there was no choice. Harry was losing blood faster than Fenton could close the wound.

"Just go slow and easy. We have time." Fenton said reassuringly, even as a bead of sweat trickled down the side of his face from the effort he was exerting to close the wound. Charlie couldn't look at the gaping hole that was Harry's abdomen. Together they worked on him until at last Fenton lowered his wand.

"That's the best I can do for now. Can't use the Dittany with all the fire oil in his wound. That is going to take weeks to weep out. He is going to have a pretty good scar." Fenton said, "But he'll live, at least. How allergic is he? I don't remember this one coming through before."

Charlie continued to work at getting Harry to swallow the replenishing potion. "He just arrived today. Harry was injured by Maida during the Triwizard tournament, four years ago."

Fenton looked at Harry's face for the first time. "I'll be damned. This is Harry Potter."

Charlie nodded grimly, "He came here to get away from all fuss back home and almost dies in the first three minutes." he looked at Fenton sharply, "This doesn't go anywhere. No one can know what has happened to him."

Fenton glared at him, "I'm offended that you even think that I would-"

"Yeah, yeah, sorry," Now that he knew Harry was going to live Charlie felt the anxiety of the last hours set in. He stared down at Harry who was still showing no signs of moving. "Is he going to be okay?"

"He'll be here for weeks. Best if I keep him unconscious for the first few days. The pain is going to be pretty intense. I'll use a levitation stasis spell whilst he is out, the way this wound wraps around he won't be comfortable on his backside or front."

Fenton used his wand and gave the necessary incantations to elevate Harry, and with a flick of his wand he vanished Harry's bloodied and torn clothes and the soaked sheets. He carefully levitated Harry to the next bed and cast a warming spell over him. Charlie pulled back the sheet from the bed and placed it over Harry's naked form. Stepping back he rubbed his hands over his face, everything had happened so quickly he still couldn't believe that Harry had almost died.

"Come on, I think we can both use a little curative after that," Fenton led Charlie to his office. Sitting down at the desk, he pulled out a bottle of țuică and two glasses from his bottom drawer. Pouring a short shot in each one he handed one glass to Charlie, "_Noroc_."

"_Noroc_," Charlie threw back the liquid, closing his eyes as he felt the burn of the harsh liquor. Fenton distilled his own and it was smoother than most but still was powerfully strong.

"So, what went wrong? Usually the greenhorns don't get-"

"Damnedest thing I ever saw. Maida, the horntail, had broken loose before we even arrived in camp. She attacked Harry as soon as we landed."

"She went straight for him?"

Charlie nodded thoughtfully, "I'm thinking that she knew that he was in the area, in Romania. We'd eaten breakfast in town before coming to camp and they said she had broken out an hour earlier, that would be when Harry came in by portkey."

The healer gave a skeptic laugh, "So you are suggesting that she remembered him from the Triwizard tournament? Wasn't that over five years ago?"

"Four. And we know dragons have a long memory and their sense of smell is a thousand times better than ours. It is how they find their breeding grounds that are often hundreds of miles from their hibernation caves. In the competition Harry had to capture an egg from her nest and he did it. And she got him with her tail back then. I think she realized that he was nearby and wanted to get her revenge," he stood up and looked down and saw for the first time the blood that was covering both of them. "I need to get back to camp and make sure that they've got her contained. Would hate to find out that she got away again and is half way here to finish the job. Do you have anything I can wear? If my theory is correct then the smell of Harry's blood will get her riled again."

"Sure, help yourself," the healer motioned to a coat rack where he had several sets of healer smocks hanging. "And yes, let's do stop Maida from attacking the infirmary."

Charlie slipped on a smock and vanished his shirt. He headed for the door, "Let me know if anything changes with Harry, won't you?"

"Of course, is there anybody we should notify?"

Charlie gave a half smile, "My family is the closest thing he has to family. My mum is pretty protective of Harry, I think we best keep this our secret until he is a little better just to keep her from flying over here and flogging me."

OOOOooOOOOoO

By the time he got back to Camp One, Charlie was glad to see that the chaos had largely been contained. Standing in the middle of the camp though he quickly saw that his own cabin had been one of the casualties of the fire. He looked at dismay at the burned out remains of where he'd lived for the last three years since he made head wrangler.

"Sorry, Charlie. Tried to save it but..." Russ spoke from behind him, and Charlie turned around.

"Doesn't matter, what is the status of everyone?"

"That greenhorn with you was the only one hurt. How is he doing?"

Charlie gave a grimace, "She got him pretty good, but Fenton thinks he'll make it. He'll be in the infirmary for a few weeks. He's is allergic to horntail fire oil."

Russ nodded, "Strange how she went straight for him," he looked like he wanted to say something more but Charlie cut him off.

"They've met before, she has a bit of a grudge against him. At the Triwizard."

Russ's eyes went wide at the news and he open and closed his mouth, "That explains it I guess," he said simply. "Let me show you the damage...we've got Maida confined in her cave and she went in easily enough."

"She must have felt that she got her revenge," Charlie said looking around. "So, we lost my cabin and the supply shed and what else?"

"We got most of your things out before it went up, and the nets and winter camping gear out of the supply shed," Russ walked Charlie through and they quickly determined what should be rebuilt first.

"Get a team working on the supply tent, I'll bunk with you and Stephen for now. Order in two new Muggle yurts. No sense in trying to get my cabin rebuilt this close to winter."

"I already checked on the yurts, they are backordered and won't be any available for the next couple of months."

Charlie grimaced and nodded, "You still have two available bunks in yours though? Harry can join us when he is released."

"You're going to let him stay? After what happened? You told him to move and he just stood there."

"I'm willing to cut him a break this one time. You have to admit that landing for your first time in camp and getting charged by a thirty foot horntail could make anyone freeze in their tracks," even as he said the words, he wasn't sure that Harry actually froze. He'd drawn his wand, it was still clutched tightly in his hand when he'd been hit by the tail.

"You're the boss," Russ said skeptically. Charlie nodded and turned away, he wanted to get back and see how Harry was doing, but first he had to get the camp sorted out.


	3. New Scars

It has been forever since I updated this story, I promise I haven't abandoned it.

* * *

It was after midnight by the time Charlie got back to the infirmary. He slipped in through the door and made his way over to Harry's bed. He looked the same as when Charlie had left hours earlier, deathly pale and oddly ghostlike as he hovered a foot above the bed.

"I won't be able to keep him in stasis as long as I would like," Fenton said. Startled, Charlie turned to see the healer standing behind him.

"Why not?"

"He's fairly malnourished. He doesn't have enough fat stores to keep him going. The stasis slows down his metabolism but the injury is still going to demand energy in order to heal," Fenton pulled back the sheet to see the wound and Charlie was reassured to see that there wasn't any sign of infection, but he could see the signs that the fire oil was interacting with Harry. The tell-tale purple streaks that already were crisscrossing against his chest.

It was a good thing Harry was in stasis, Charlie thought, or he would in a lot of pain. Harry's ribs stuck out far more than they would on a regular weight person.

"He was in hiding all last year, I know it was hard for them to get food," he said, remembering what Ron had told them about being on the run. Ron had lost weight also, but he'd had more body weight to start.

"You would think that he would have taken advantage of the peace and eaten," Fenton gave Charlie a questioning look as he replaced the sheet.

"Harry has had a lot of stress lately, probably wasn't eating much. And he's a runner so I'm sure he burned off more than he ate," Charlie knew he was breaking one of the cardinal rules of the camps, talking about someone else's past but the healer needed to know. So, you can't keep him in stasis until the worst of reaction is over?"

"I think it would be too dangerous, I'd hoped to save him at least a few days of the worst pain. I'll monitor him and if his condition drops I'll have to end the stasis," Fenton looked over at Charlie, "I'll need your help when I wake him up. It will be rough waking up to that kind of pain

"Keep him under as long as you can," Charlie indicated towards the purple streaks, "If we can save him from having to go through the worst of that, it would good."

The healer nodded, "I'll do what I can."

"If I'm not here when you have to wake him, just send your patronus for me. I'll come no matter what I'm doing. Alright if I bunk here tonight? My cabin burned down."

The healer shook his head in amusement and gestured towards the next bed over, "Take that one, I'm not expecting anymore guests."

After Fenton left, Charlie sat down on the bed next to Harry's, he pulled off his boots and as he unbuttoned his shirt he looked over at Harry's silent figure and just shook his head. The man truly didn't get a break. He left England to escape everything that had happened there and nearly died within an hour of arriving. If the fool had just gotten on his broom and flown away when Charlie had told him to then the whole thing wouldn't have happened. They could be sitting around joking and talking in camp now, instead of having Harry lying unconscious on a cot.

Charlie lay down on the bed and closed his eyes, willing sleep to come but instead he started thinking about the first time he'd seen Harry. He'd literally fallen out of the floo and had sprawled on the Burrow kitchen floor in a heap. What a difference four years made Charlie thought with a glance, Harry would never be tall but he was no longer the slight, hesitant boy who used to watch Charlie and his brothers in wide-eyed fascination.

That boy was gone for good, in his place was a man who'd chased down death and walked away. Charlie thought of the still healing scar that he'd seen in the center of Harry's chest. It was a near perfect match to the scar on his forehead, although four times the size. Harry hadn't walked away untouched but he'd still managed to survive.

Even though he'd had few occasions to spend time with Harry over the years, Charlie had always been curious about him. Not just because who he was, but because in Ron's rare letters he'd describe his adventures and misadventures with Harry. Charlie remembered looking forward to Ron's letters just to hear the latest Harry story.

He'd also heard a lot about Harry from Ginny, who wrote far more often. He was sure that his sister saw Charlie as more of a newspaper agony aunt than a brother, maybe it was because she'd been so young when he'd gone off to Hogwarts. They knew each other only through fleeting visits and letters than day to day life. She would send owls from Hogwarts, pouring her heart out to him about all the traumas and tribulations of her life, which often revolved around Harry Potter.

Heading to England for the Quidditch World Cup he'd been curious to meet the boy whose name was known by everyone in the Wizarding world. Considering his own sister's obsession with him, he'd wanted to make sure that this Harry Potter was worthy of her attention. The shy boy with flushed cheeks that shook his hand was not what he had expected.

After observing him in camp and during the Quidditch match, Charlie had also concluded that his sister would be disappointed. Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, clearly had an interest in boys. Recognizing the signs, Charlie had wondered at the time if Ron knew but it only took a little observing of their interactions to be sure that Ron didn't, considering his brother's reaction to the Veela and his genuine confusion when Harry had seemed unaffected.

Stretching his arms behind his head and staring up at the ceiling, Charlie winced as he remembered his surprise two years later when Ginny had written that she and Harry were dating. Surprise would be an understatement. It wasn't often that Charlie guessed incorrectly about someone being bent, but Ginny was clearly thrilled to be finally dating Harry so Charlie was happy for her.

Then had come Bill's wedding. He hadn't seen Harry in three years and had been more than shocked by the changes in him. The boy was gone and a man was in his place.

Ginny had told him that Harry had insisted that they stop seeing each other, but she was very much still in love with him. It was after spotting Harry leaving Ginny's room that Charlie had had felt a spark of what only could be considered jealousy. Jealous. Of his own sister. He'd been ashamed of himself and quickly tamped down the misplaced feelings as he watched them interact that weekend. And he saw with his own eyes that even if Harry had broken up with Ginny, he clearly was straight and only had eyes for Ginny.

During the chaos of the wedding reception that followed Shacklebolt's patronus, Charlie had immediately looked to see where Harry was in the tent. He'd given a huge sigh of relief when the trio had apparated away safely. It was only as he turned away to help other guests escape that he saw the devastated look on Ginny's face.

Charlie glanced over to where Harry was hovering just a few feet away. He'd heard a few of the stories from Ron about what had happened during the year that they had been in hiding but he was sure there was a lot that had been held back. Ginny had gone back to Hogwarts, much to Charlie's regret. If he'd known how bad the school year would be for Ginny he would have brought her back to Romania with him, not that she would have gone.

There was a sudden burst of sparks in the fireplace as a log broke apart. Charlie sighed and climbed out of the bed. Reaching for the poker he shifted the burning logs and then carefully added another log to the fire. Although the infirmary was far enough away from the dragons that it was safe to use magic, he knew that Fenton preferred to not use warming spells on patients as it could interfere with the healing spells. He would have to have someone haul more wood over to the infirmary. They were going to need it, he thought as he looked over at Harry's still figure a few feet away.

Charlie woke the next morning to Fenton murmuring as he waved his wand over Harry, checking his condition. He shifted onto his side and watched the healer work, not interrupting until Fenton slipped his wand back into his sleeve.

"How is he doing?"

Fenton gave a shrug, "As well as I can hope considering everything. I'll have to lift the stasis by tonight. He is getting weaker. "

Charlie sat up, "What do you mean weaker?"

"Like I said last night, his body is fighting against the fire oil and that takes a lot of energy, which is burning through his calorie stores. Which he doesn't have a lot of to start with, so he needs the nutritional potions. Are you sure there isn't anyone who would want to know about his condition?

Charlie shook his head, "You know his story. No family of his own that he would want here. There's my family," Charlie hesitated, "My mum would be here in a heartbeat but I don't think he would want that."

"Are you just afraid of what they would say if they found out his condition?" Fenton asked dryly.

"Isn't that the truth? Mum would probably take me out back for a lashing, but doesn't change the fact the Harry doesn't like being fussed over." Charlie stood up and stretched and came over to stand next to Fenton. He looked down at Harry, silent and seemingly dead to the world, "No. He wouldn't want that. If things change and they need to know, I'll tell them."

"You know him best, we'll see how things go today."

"Good. Now, do you have any breakfast fixings here or do I have to go back to the cantina?"

"Come on, I had Marta deliver breakfast for two," the healer said with a motion towards where his private rooms were attached to the infirmary. The tiny sitting room also served as kitchen and potions lab. Charlie sniffed appreciatively at the smell of the coffee that permeated the room. Locating two mugs he filled them with the hot coffee as Fenton unpacked the basket of food that had been kept hot under warming spells.

Sitting down at the table they dug into the mămăliga. There were coarse biscuits and rashers bacon as well and Charlie gave a contented sigh when he'd eaten his fill. "Thanks, Jim, that was good."

"Thank Marta, I decided awhile back there was no point in trying to cooking on my own when she does a better job of it." Fenton summoned the coffeepot over to the table and filled both of their mugs. "So what is the history with you and Potter?"

Charlie grimaced, being more of an outsider Fenton didn't adhere to the same no gossiping rules as the rest of the camp but Charlie knew that the healer wouldn't tell anyone else and he felt the need to talk about Harry, seeing him so injured had shaken him more than he wanted to admit.

"Not much to say, he and my brother Ron became friends at Hogwarts their first year. I met him four years later. First at the World Cup and then again a few months later at the Triwizard," he took a sip of coffee and thought to himself he could remember exactly how his muscles ached from the tension of having to watch Harry walk into the dragon arena alone.

The sound of Fenton's chair scraping against the floor brought his attention back to the present, "I'd forgotten until yesterday that you'd been at the Triwizard. So that is when Potter faced Maida?"

"Yes," Charlie said shortly, "And what an idiotic thing that was - a fourteen year old going up against a nearly full-grown Hungarian Horntail."

"I'm a surprised you allowed it, couldn't you have -"

"You don't think I tried?" Charlie protested, "When I'd heard that Harry's name had been selected, I told Dumbledore, the Ministry of Magic and the international council that it was ludicrous but I was overruled. I didn't have the authority or the political pull to be heard."

"He did okay though, didn't he? I seem to recall that he won that task."

"Tied with Krum, but it was terrifying and utterly breathtaking to watch. I have no idea how he pulled it off. I hadn't spent that much time with him at that point. Just knew what I'd heard from Ron and Ginny. But he walked into that arena and stood facing a Hungarian Horntail with nothing but a wand." Charlie shook his head at the memory, "The others, they had chosen to be there. It was trickery that forced Harry into the tournament and yet he stood where many a grown man would have fled."

"Do you suppose that is why he didn't fly away yesterday when you told him to? You said he stood his ground."

Charlie froze and just looked at Jim for a minute and remembered that flash of panic he'd felt as he saw Harry facing down Maida in the camp. He'd had his wand stretched out like he had during the tournament. That was why Harry hadn't listened to him when Maida had charged. He was just doing what his instincts told him to do. It had been the wrong instinct, but it made sense.

"The fool," Charlie said shaking his head. "Damn fool. Almost got himself killed because of it."

"Well, he didn't, thanks to you. If you hadn't apparated him straight here he'd have bled out."

"He isn't out of the woods yet. The fire oil-"

Fenton shook his head, "Better than being dead. Fortunately, the worst of it will be done in a day or so."

"If I told you that he was having an issue with wild magic before this all happened, would that be a problem?" Charlie asked hesitantly. It had occurred to him as he was tossing and turning last night that maybe Harry's magic was working against him even as he was in stasis.

"How big of an issue?"

Charlie shrugged, "Enough to rattle dishes and silverware while we were eating breakfast yesterday. Last week my brother wrote that Harry had accidentally destroyed a room in the ministry because of the trial."

Fenton let out a slow whistle but shook his head, "No, I don't think that will affect his condition while under stasis, but you know it is going to be painful for him to move for a week or two. His magic may cause problems then, if he can't find a way to release it safely."

"How's that? I was going to have him use one of George's magic shields-"

The healer shook his head and stood up, he went over to his bookcase and stretching to the top shelf pulled down a thin book, "That is the last thing you'll want to do with wild magic. It would trap it and then then Merlin knows what could happen. Best to have him work on calming techniques. Controlling it is the best thing for him." He handed the book to Charlie.

"Passages to Serenity?" Charlie looked at the blue cover with the embossed gold lettering, "What is this?"

"It is a guide for Buddhist wizards," Fenton said with a smile, "They have to be careful to not harm even the most sensitive of creatures. It makes them among the best in developing calming techniques for wild magic. They need to keep their magical levels at such controlled levels to prevent accidental harm."

"You think this will work?" Charlie asked, unable to keep the skepticism out of his voice.

"Couldn't hurt," Fenton checked the time, "You need to get to the camps and I need to keep an eye on my patient. I'll let you know if anything changes."

As he stood up from the table Charlie regretted that he couldn't stay but he knew it would be for the best. He picked up the book and nodded to Fenton, "I'll read through this, see if I can figure out something to help Harry to use when he is awake again."

It was late afternoon when Charlie finally got back to the clinic. Fenton was in his clinic patching up the greenhorn that had had his hand slammed in a gate an hour earlier. "Let me just finish up this and then we can check on your friend."

Nodding, Charlie turned and went over to where Harry was still levitating over the bed. Pulling back the sheet he looked analytically at the purple streaks. They seemed to be slightly lighter in color than this morning. The large gash from the tail of the Horntail wasn't quite as vicious looking but it was far from healed. There was no doubt that Harry would have a permanent scar across his entire abdomen.

"If the fire oil starts dissipating by tomorrow I'll be able to use the Dittany, hopefully reduce a little of the scarring," Fenton said from the other side of Harry's bed. "Today I used a different salve on his back to speed up healing a little. The hover charm won't work once the stasis is removed so he is going to have to lay on his back or his good side."

Charlie winced at that, the wounds were still so fresh there was no doubt that Harry would have a hard time laying on his back, "Are you sure we can't put it off until tomorrow?"

"The longer we wait the weaker he gets and the longer the healing will take, there is a positive though, the more he moves the quicker the fire oil will disburse."

"Right, what do you need me to do?"

Fenton reached under the bed and pulled out a bundle of straps. Charlie looked at him in disbelief as he handed three to Charlie and took the others for himself, "I know you are going to object, but it is the only safe way to bring him out. We don't know how much pain he is going to be in and he is certain to be disoriented. We need to use physical restraints to make sure he doesn't rip his wounds completely open."

Charlie felt the leather straps in his hand uneasily,, "Couldn't we use a body bind on him and then we can talk to him and make-"

"Not with that wild magic you were talking about this morning. We don't know what it is capable of and I'm not willing to take the chance." Fenton had used his wand to lower Harry so that he was a mere inch above the mattress. Not giving Charlie a chance to argue he started strapping Harry's forearm to the bed, "Don't do it at a joint, he could snap it if he starts thrashing."

Charlie's stomach was turning as he wordlessly started buckling the strap around Harry's other arm, "My mum is going to have my hide." Finishing the arm strap he saw that Harry's hair had fallen into his eyes and Charlie reached up and brushed it back, his fingers easily slipping through the thick black hair.

Fenton laughed, "I'll vouch for you if that helps at all."

They finished strapping down Harry's legs using the other straps. "Right, that is going to hold him. I just need you to talk to him as he is coming out, get him to understand what is going on. I have the pain potions ready to go but we need to get him alert first."

Charlie nodded and Fenton gave a flick of his wand and two things happened almost simultaneously. Harry's eyes flew open and his body fell the scant inch to the mattress. Having braced his hands against Harry's shoulders he had expected him to scream or react but all Harry did was throw his head back as his whole body stiffened. His breath that had been so steady and deep in stasis had become shallow pants as his eyes had rolled back in his head.

"Harry, can you hear me? You're in Romania, you got hurt," Charlie spoke loudly into Harry's ear as he watched Fenton starting to scan Harry with his wand. "C'mon, Harry, I know it hurts, you can-"

"Get down," Fenton shouted and before Charlie could know what was happening the healer had thrown himself against Charlie and they fell to the floor. There was a resounding crack and the windows in the infirmary exploded in a rain of glass.


	4. Wild Magic

The wave of magic forced Charlie across the floor. There was the shattering of glass and Charlie covered his head as objects flew through the air and an acrid smell of ozone filled the air. Charlie's ears were still ringing from the blast when he remembered Harry.

He scrambled over to Harry's bed and found him arching against the bindings that held him to the bed. His eyes were rolled back in their sockets and his mouth was open in a silent scream. The wounds had torn open and fresh blood was staining the sheets.

"Harry, it's Charlie. It's okay. You're safe. Listen to me..." Charlie shouted to Harry as he heard Fenton scrambling on the floor, trying to find the potion flask that had fallen in the explosion. At last, Fenton found it and shoved it into Charlie's hands. The healer started to cast spells at Harry, healing the freshly opened wounds.

Charlie held up the potion bottle to Harry. "You have to swallow this, Harry. It will help the pain."

Harry gave a barely perceptible nod and Charlie tentatively poured a little of the liquid into his mouth. Harry grimaced but kept on swallowing as Charlie poured. His face was covered with beads of sweat and his arms and legs were twitching against the restraints. At last, Harry's face relaxed enough that Charlie knew the potion was working and he dared to look at Fenton.

"He'll do. The wounds are closed again and I don't detect any more surges coming," Fenton said as he wiped an arm against his forehead. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Magical surge?"

"And then some, probably from being held in stasis. Clearly I underestimated that wild magic you told me about. Stasis is not an option I'll be using again with him." Fenton looked down at Harry whose eyes were flicking frantically between Charlie to the healer. "Harry, I'm Healer Fenton. You were injured by a dragon in Romania."

Harry nodded again and didn't seem at all reassured, but shut his eyes and took several deep breaths. Charlie was glad to see that he was no longer testing the restraints, when Harry opened his eyes again they had the slightly glazed look that showed the pain potion was working, "I remember. Horntail." His voice was hoarse and he looked at Charlie for confirmation.

"Yes, a Horntail that has a very long memory," Charlie said as he forced a smile on his face. "You've been in the infirmary for two days."

"Hurts."

"You're allergic to Horntails, remember?" Charlie cursed, maybe he didn't remember. Harry's memories had been tampered with and Charlie didn't know how much had been lost.

"Okay." Harry closed his eyes as Fenton started running scans on him again.

"He's asleep."

"Just like that?" Charlie said in surprise.

"He is pretty weak, the surge probably drained him of what little energy he had left. We'll let him sleep for a bit and then wake him to give him the restorative potion." Fenton looked around at the broken window, "Thank Merlin for shatterproof potion flasks."

"I'll get somebody from camp to help us fix the windows," Charlie said, flicking his wand and casting his Patronus, a Chinese Fireball, off towards camp. "Can we take off the restraints?" He hated the sight of Harry buckled to the bed.

Fenton hesitated and then cast one more scan over Harry's chest. "I think it would be safe. He won't have the strength to have another release like that for hours if not days. We need to teach him how to let it go safely before that happens." Charlie hardly heard the healer as he hastened to undo the straps on Harry's arms and legs.

The response from the camps came back faster than he expected, considering the storm. They were still straightening the beds that had been blown against the wall from the surge when Alec and Philippe arrived. The two wranglers walked into the room and Charlie saw Alec nudge Philippe, as they both looked towards Harry. He had the sudden urge to pull the sheets higher up on Harry's chest.

"Oi, over here. I need you to board up the windows. No magic." Charlie said, giving the two greenhorns no chance to take another look at Harry as he told them where they could find the necessary supplies.

"What happened?" Alec asked, looking back towards Harry. The man had just joined the camps six months ago and was already making a name for himself. He had dark brown hair that swept his forehead and a lean tall look that made many give him a second glance when he walked by, and he knew it.

"It was just a little explosion. Get the job done and then back to camp before the storm gets any worse." Charlie walked away to shut down the conversation. Fenton was by Harry's bed, a flask in his hand. Are you going to wake him?"

"We still need to give him the restorative potion."

"Can't that wait?"

"Afraid not, he needs it to start building his strength. Why don't you wake him? He's more likely to recognize your voice than mine."

Charlie hesitated for a just a moment and then went to sit on Harry's other side. "Harry. It's Charlie. You need to wake up. Take some more potion." There was no response and with a glance at Fenton who nodded, Charlie reached out and gave Harry's shoulders a shake. Harry's body gave an instant jerk as his eyes flew open. Charlie immediately pressed down on his shoulders to keep him from reopening the wounds. "Easy. You're in the infirmary. You're injured. Remember?"

Harry's green eyes were glazed with pain and confusion but he gave a quick nod as he stared at Charlie. "The healer has some potion, it will help. Just drink it and then you can go back to sleep."

Harry's face twisted in a grimace but he accepted the flask and lifted it to his lips, his body tensing in pain as the movement twisted his chest. He swallowed the contents of the bottle and then let the bottle drop to the bed. "What happened?" His voice was raspy from disuse and he was looking around the room as if to try to put everything together. Charlie realized that Harry didn't remember the conversation from just a few minutes ago.

"Horntail got you. You have a pretty bad slash from her tail. Rest. I'll fill you in when you wake up next." Charlie said, trying to sound cheerful as he tried not to wonder if whatever memory spell Malfoy had used on him had affected his short-term memory.

"'kay. Don't tell your mum," Harry mumbled as his eyes fluttered shut and he fell back asleep. Charlie watched as Fenton ran another scan with his wand. The healer seemed satisfied and pulled the blankets up to cover his chin. The temperature in the room had dropped significantly with the missing windows. Charlie crossed over to the fireplace and added several logs to the fire.

"Confusion is normal, coming out of stasis and being in that kind of pain. He'll probably sleep for a couple of hours until the pain potion wears off." Fenton rubbed his hand over his face. "Drink?"

Charlie hesitated and looked over to where the greenhorns were hammering boards in place. He would be able to hear if they stopped working but he didn't like the idea of them watching Harry as he slept. He looked far too vulnerable. Charlie knew that he would hate being looked as he slept so he pulled the privacy screens around the bed. It would block some of the warmth from the fire but would preserve Harry's privacy. With a last look at Harry he turned and joined Fenton in his office, sitting down with relief in the chair near the door where he could keep an eye on the workers.

Fenton handed him a glass without comment and Charlie stretched his legs out as he sipped the liquor. He didn't know when he'd last felt so drained. His muscles ached from the percussion of the explosion.

"I can heal that cut for you," Fenton motioned with his glass towards Charlie's head.

"What?" He wiped a hand over his face and it came back with a smear of blood. Charlie shook his head as he wiped the blood on his trousers and took another sip. "Not worth the trouble."

"So, Harry is your little brother's friend? You seem quite protective of him."

"He's Harry Potter. Can you imagine how quickly our funding would dry up if something happened to him here?"

"No other motivation, then?"

He heard the question in the healer's voice and knew that Fenton wouldn't push it if he didn't answer. Charlie swirled his glass and watched the movement of the clear liquid. He'd always protected his privacy, in a family as large as his it had been self-preservation more than anything. Then the war had come and he spent years both spying and recruiting support, chatting freely would have been dangerous.

"He's only eighteen," he said by way of a non-answer as he took another sip.

"That's legal age in all the wizarding countries of the world. Muggle ones, too, for that matter."

"Just because he isn't jail-bait doesn't mean-" Charlie broke off, for some reason he wanted to explain to Fenton how he felt about Harry. Or maybe he just needed to say what he was feeling out loud to convince himself that he believed it. Charlie glanced through the open doorway to where Harry lay sleeping and back to the healer.

Charlie took a deep breath and tried to explain, "Do you know what his life has been like? He spent ten out of eleven years living with an aunt and uncle that made him live in a _cupboard_, then he discovers he's a wizard and goes to a school and finds out someone is dead set on killing him. He ends up battling him for the next seven years and when he finally defeats Voldemort, when he finally thinks the worst is behind him he finds out that a git who should be in Azkaban erased two years of his memory. And, as an added bonus, he discovers he's gay and the affection that he felt for his girlfriend, my sister, by the way, was from a love potion slipped to him by the man he trusted most. To cap it off he comes here to get away from all of that, and ends up nearly dying."

Fenton picked up the bottle and refilled Charlie's glass, "That doesn't change the fact that you like him."

"Like? I suppose you could say I like him." Charlie took a sip and scowled at the burn of the țuică. "I'm also sure as hell not going to-" he broke off as Alec appeared in the doorway.

"We've boarded up all the windows. We're going to head back to camp." Alec looked over his shoulder towards Harry. "Is he going to be okay?"

"He's fine. Or will be," Charlie amended. "Tell Russ I'll be bunking here again." He watched as the two men walked away. He'd have to keep an eye on Alec. The man had been with just about everyone in the camp, male and female. Charlie tolerated his behavior because he was a good worker, never complained about the tasks given, but Alec didn't hold back during his off-hours and that could lead to problems.

Fenton shifted in his chair and forced Charlie's thoughts back to their conversation. He wanted the healer to not get the wrong impression about how he felt about Harry. "Harry has never had a choice in his life. He has been forced into situation after situation and has always come through them, battered but not somehow not defeated."

"But, you are interested in him."

He gave a bitter laugh, "Hell, yes. I've been _interested_ in Harry for years, before it was even decent to consider. But I'm not about to act on it. I invited him here because he's been through hell and needs time to figure things out. He's my sister's ex-boyfriend, my brother's best mate. I'm sure he thinks of me as nothing more than an adopted big brother, and that is okay."

"What if he wants-"

Charlie cut him off before he could finish the question. "He won't and why are we discussing my lov...me anyway? It is all moot considering the condition he is in."

"Just wanted to make sure your motivation is clear."

Charlie glared at the man, "Don't worry about me. I know my place, I'm not going to do anything to make Harry feel uncomfortable."

OoOOOOOoOOOOOooo

Later that night, Charlie awoke to the sound of Harry groaning. Instantly alert he turned to see Harry attempting to get out of bed. He had pushed back the covers and had one foot on the ground, his arms gripping his middle as he bent over in pain.

"What the hell are you doing?" Charlie was up and out of his bed and tried to push Harry back down,

"Need to use the loo." Harry protested weakly as he resisted Charlie's efforts to get him to lie down again.

"You'll tear open your wounds, again, if you get out of bed," Charlie said as he reached under the bed for the urinal. "Here, do you need help?"

"No, I'm fine." Harry look embarrassed as he took the receptacle from Charlie.

"I'll just go stoke up the fire." He walked over to the fireplace and added another log, stoking up the coals to create more warmth. He returned to Harry's side. Charlie vanished the contents without comment and put the urinal back under the bed.

"Water?"

Harry nodded and Charlie filled a glass from the pitcher on the night table. "Take a sip and then you'll need to take the potion." Fenton had left the potion with Charlie on orders to make sure Harry had some every time he woke.

Harry shook his head, "No pain potion."

"I have that too, if you need it, but this is a restorative potion. You're pretty weak from being in stasis. The healer wants you to start taking it, it might be a day or two until you can keep solid food down."

Harry twisted his face in displeasure but took the potion bottle and took a few swigs. He pushed the bottle away and closed his eyes. Beads of sweat drenched his forehead, and his breaths were shallow and irregular. "Sorry to be trouble."

"Don't worry about it, but I really hadn't planned you'd spend the first month in Romania in the infirmary."

"Month?" Harry shook his head. "I'm not going to stay in bed for a month!"

"At least," Charlie countered and added, "Do you want to know how close you came to dying this time?"

Harry snorted and didn't answer, a moment later he was asleep. Charlie arranged the blankets and turned back to his own bed. It was going to be a long few months, he realized as he stared resolutely up at the ceiling.

OoOoOOoOoOOO

Six owls were perched on the railing of the front porch when Charlie opened the door the next morning to pick up the breakfast basket. No Howlers, he realized with a sigh of relief, as he reached for the bucket of owl treats and fed each of the owls and untied the missives from his family. Three were addressed to him; the other three were for Harry.

Rubbing the back of his neck he walked into the infirmary. Harry was still sleeping, having woken once more in the night. He headed to Fenton's office where the healer was pouring coffee into two mugs. Charlie set the letters down and reached gratefully for the coffee.

"Six?"

"My family." Charlie shrugged. "Half are for Harry."

"Take it they aren't happy he hightailed it over here?"

Charlie thought for a moment and then shook his head. "Haven't read them but knowing my family they are probably just checking to make sure that he is safe."

Fenton laughed, "Good thing they didn't try to floo call him." Charlie smiled but didn't join in his laughter, Harry's close call was still too painful to find amusing.

Harry was awake by the time they had finished breakfast. He didn't say anything as Fenton examined the wound. The torn flesh was slowly starting to heal but the purple marks of the fire oil still were spreading across his abdomen. He refused the pain potion that Fenton offered and scowled at the restorative potion.

"Drink it and I'll give you your owls." Charlie said as he held up the letters.

Harry looked from the owls to the potion. "Be better to bribe me with not having to read them."

"Face your fears and all that," Charlie said as he handed them to Harry. Charlie sat back down on the other bed and watched as Harry looked to see who wrote the letters. Harry sighed and opened the one from Charlie's mother.

Charlie looked at his own letters, one from his mother, Ginny, and Bill. He hesitated and then opened Bill's first. It prove to be a summary of how the trial had concluded – Draco Malfoy had been sentenced to time served and two years parole and ordered to have no contact with Harry. Charlie huffed, he wished that Malfoy dared to come near Harry. He would give the bastard the thrashing he deserved.

The sound of a paper crumbling drew his eyes over to Harry. His fist tightly clenched a letter and his eyes were squeezed tight. Charlie was suddenly aware of the ripples of magic emanating from the Harry. Cursing, he leapt up and gripped Harry by the shoulders.

"Calm down, Harry. Take a breath," Charlie could feel the magic building as he talked, the boards covering the windows were rattling as Harry's magic continued to build.

"Give him his wand!" Fenton was running towards them. Charlie didn't hesitate but pulled open the drawer on the table next to the bed and grabbed Harry's wand and pressed it into his hand. "Cast a spell – cast a _lumos_."

Harry looked down at his wand and the wand tip started glowing, so brightly that it almost looked like a flame. The rattling of the boards quieted a little and Fenton nodded. "Again, keep casting. Summon something."

Harry looked around as he fought his magic and pain, "_Accio_ water," he whispered and the water pitcher flew across the room.

Charlie realized what Fenton was trying to get Harry to do, "Just use your magic, Harry. Focus on using your magic."

Harry nodded and cast again and again. Transforming chairs into teddy bears, summoning books and objects, and levitating his pillow. Finally, he fell back against his pillow exhausted and closed his eyes. He was asleep within seconds.

Fenton shook his head, "What set him off?"

"Owl." Charlie looked down at where the crumpled parchment had fallen on the floor. He hesitated and picked it up. "From my brother Ron." He was tempted to read the owl to see what had made Harry angry but folded it instead put it with the others.

"I imagine if he wasn't so injured that he really could have done some harm with that magic. He is going to learn how to control it, and soon." Fenton looked at Charlie, "Have you started reading the book?"

Charlie had forgotten all about the book that the healer had lent him. "No, erm, I'll start it tonight."

"While you are gone today, I'll see if I can get him to talk, but something tells me that he won't want to open up to me at all, seeing as he doesn't know me."

Charlie nodded, "You think he needs to talk about what happened?"

"Wild magic like that comes from anger. He needs to control the anger to stop the magic and to do that he needs—"

"I get it. I'll see what I can do for him."

ooOoOoOoO

It had started raining mid-morning and had quickly gone from rain to sleet to snow that was showing no signs of stopping. The early snowfall had prompted a number of the Hebridean breeds to retreat to their caves which had meant a long day spent in cavernous dank spaces lit only by torchlight. Charlie was soaked through and would love nothing more to get into dry clothes and sit by the fire in his cabin. Except for that his cabin was gone and there was Harry. Charlie had to force himself to not worry about Harry as he'd slogged through the growing drifts of snow making sure that everyone was getting their jobs done. Now that the work day was over he wanted to get back to the infirmary. Pushing back the idea of supper at the cantina he headed into the wind and towards Harry.

oOOoOOOOo

Charlie closed the door behind him with relief as the warmth of the infirmary embraced him. The windows were still boarded up, but that was no surprise, any deliveries from Bucharest would've been delayed by storm.

Harry was propped up on pillows, his eyes closed but Charlie didn't think he was asleep.

"Harry?"

Green eyes opened and Charlie winced as he could see the pain behind them. "Bad?"

Harry nodded slightly, obviously not wanting to move his body.

"Day three, today should be about the worst there is, and then it will start getting better." Charlie didn't bother asking if Harry wanted pain potion. Fenton would have offered it to Harry, and if he'd turned it down then nothing Charlie could say would change his mind. "I'm going to check in with the healer. Be back in a few minutes."

Harry shut his eyes again, the strain of what he was going thorough showed clearly on the fine lines of his face. Charlie watched him for a moment and then went to find Fenton.

"Figured you would show up about now." Fenton was halfway through his dinner as Charlie walked into his office. He motioned with his fork to the other plate. "Eat. He isn't going anywhere."

"How long has he been like that?" Charlie asked as he sat down and started eating.

"All afternoon. I don't think the pain has let him get any sleep."

"Won't take the pain potion?"

"Just the restorative. Claims that the pain potion makes him feel fuzzy."

"I'd prefer fuzzy over that."

"You've given me an argument or two over taking it, as I recall."

"If I was going through that I would." Charlie shook his head, "Any problem with magic?"

"Nope, of course, he is pretty weak. It is going to take a while for it to build up again." Fenton eyed him over his glass, "Be a good time to talk to him about what set him off. He isn't likely to be able to have another episode so do it now."

Charlie grimaced but nodded. "I'll try."

They went out together to see Harry. He was in the same state, lying motionlessly on the bed. After Fenton checked his wound and watched Harry drink the restorative potion he waved good-night to them and went off to his quarters.

Charlie pulled up a chair and sat next to his bed. Harry watched him through the corner of his eye and shook his head, "You don't have to babysit me," he whispered and Charlie laughed.

"I'm not babysitting. I'm sleeping here because my cabin burned down, figured I may as well keep you company."

Charlie watched as Harry's hands gripped the sheets tightly as the pain got the worst of him. "Are you sure you don't want the pain potion?"

He shook his head and Charlie nodded his acceptance of Harry's stubbornness. He glanced towards the letters that were still on the nightstand.

"What happened this morning?" Charlie never liked beating around the bush, if Harry wanted to answer he would, if he didn't, he wouldn't. Harry turned to look at Charlie, flinching in pain as he did so.

Charlie returned his stare until Harry looked back up at the ceiling. "Nothing really," Harry said so quietly that Charlie could hardly hear him. "Ron wrote that they were heading back to Hogwarts in a few days."

"That made you mad?" Charlie asked in surprise. He had assumed that Harry's outburst had had something to do with Malfoy.

Harry didn't respond right away and Charlie waited. The wind had picked up outside and Charlie listened to the creak and roar of it going through the trees. He was glad he wasn't in the one of the yurts tonight, not that they wouldn't be warm but it was nice being indoors in a solid building on such a night.

"I had thought that we would all be able to go back together. Have one year at Hogwarts without having to worry about Voldemort. And then the trial happened—" Harry broke off and clenched his hands tightly. "It made me angry that I can't be there, and that _he_ is going back."

Charlie whistled as he remembered Bill's letter that had confirmed that Malfoy was going to be at Hogwarts with Ron and Hermione. "Malfoy?"

Harry nodded, his breathing was getting ragged and Charlie could feel the faint sensation that he now recognized as Harry's magic brushing against his skin. Harry turned away from Charlie, "I don't want to talk about it."

Charlie nodded; he was surprised that Harry had admitted as much as he had. Standing up he went over to the table and picked up a potion bottle.

"Drink a little more potion, it will help you get your strength back. Get you out of here and into the camps so you can shovel shite for us."

Harry gave a small smile and reached for the bottle. He had taken two swallows before he realized that Charlie had handed him the pain potion and not the restorative. "Why did you do that?"

"You need to sleep, Harry. You can't sleep with that kind of pain, trust me on this one. Take one more swallow and hopefully you'll sleep through the night."

It was probably a testament to how badly he was feeling that Harry didn't argue anymore but took another large swallow of the potion before handing it back to Charlie.

"Good night, Harry," Charlie said softly as he watched the man fall asleep, his eyelids closing and face finally relaxing against the pain. He sat there watching him sleep for a few more minutes until his conscience forced him to climb into his own bed and reach for the Buddhist magic book that Fenton had given him.


	5. Healing

Cursing as he dusted the worst of the grime off of his trousers, Charlie limped over to the broomrack. The Welsh Green and her yearling had put up a fight when he had tried to separate them. Getting trapped with a rock ledge behind him and an angry dragon blocking the only way out was a bloody greenhorn mistake. Russ has been able to distract the mother enough to escape the trap but the yearling had chased him across the coral, much to the amusement of the other wranglers.

"Everything all right, Charlie?" Charlie's hand hesitated as he reached for his broom at the sound of Russ's voice behind him. Charlie knew that Russ could tell he'd been distracted this week, and in this job that could have fatal consequences.

"Yeah, just decided to end the day with a little excitement."

"Going to bunk at the infirmary again?"

"Yep." Charlie turned to face Russ, "Any problem with that?"

"No, just seems you aren't getting much sleep, crankier than a Horntail this week."

"I'll see you in the morning." A part of him felt a twinge of guilt at brushing off Russ's concern-and ignoring the question that Russ was leaving unasked. Russ was his friend but Charlie was not willing to give him an opening to ask about Harry. He swung his leg over the broom, careful to not let Russ see how much pain the move caused him.

"Have Fenton look at that leg," Russ called out as Charlie kicked off the ground. Giving a wave of acknowledgement, Charlie turned and headed down the mountain towards the infirmary. He was almost there when he saw another broom heading his way. His teeth ground together as he realized it was Alec. With a flick of his wrist Charlie turned into Alec's path, forcing the man to pull up on his broom.

"Coming from the infirmary? I thought you finished putting the new windows in yesterday?"

Alec gave him the toothy smile that never failed to annoy Charlie. "Forgot my level, had to go back and get it. Stayed to chat with Har- the new guy. Keep his mind off the pain, you know."

Charlie bit back the impulse to tell him to stay away from the infirmary. "Evening chores still need to be finished. We can't afford to have you wasting time." He twisted and headed down the lane before the man could respond. The wind whipped through his hair, driving sleet into his face and ensuring that he was in a foul mood by the time he reached the infirmary. Flinging open the door he cursed as it crashed against the wall. Fenton was just coming out of his office and he stopped short as Charlie stomped into the room. "Bad day?"

"The usual. How's he doing?"

"A little improved, took a few steps and I made sure that he used his magic during the day, keep it from building up."

Charlie moved to enter the ward and Fenton stopped him. "I was hoping to head into town tonight, play dominoes down at Nutri."

"Sure, not a problem."

"I started using a new ointment on his wound, needs to be put on twice a day. He still needs it put on tonight. Would you mind?"

Charlie agreed and turned to finally see Harry. He was sitting up in bed, resting against a pile of pillows. He gave a brief smile as Charlie walked in. "Charlie Weasley, Zen master."

Charlie laughed despite his foul mood. They'd been working on the breathing and focus techniques suggested by the book and it had been helping Harry manage the pain a little better. Charlie still wasn't convinced that it would help prevent an outburst if Harry had another one, though.

Fenton showed Charlie the jar of ointment and how much to use and then quickly left. Charlie smiled as he wondered if the rumors about the healer and the owner of Nutri were true after all.

"Got a delivery from Hermione at the camp," Charlie reached into his pocket and pulled out the book that she had shrunk to allow it to be delivered by owl. Tapping it with his wand the book was restored to full size, and Charlie had to grab it before it fell on the floor. He looked at the title and whistled under his breath as he handed it to Harry

Harry looked curiously down at the title and gave a snort of laughter, "_A Study of Wandless Wizardry Through the Ages_? What now, she expects me to do wandless?"

"Have you ever tried?"

"What? Wandless? Not hardly." Harry reached to give the book back to Charlie and then froze as pain overtook him. His face went white and and his body stiffened in reaction. Charlie grabbed the book and Harry took a few shallow breaths.

"That's it. Don't try to talk." Charlie gently pulled a pillow away so that he could lay down a little more. "What made Hermione think that you could do it?"

Harry had his eyes closed as he tried to recover, "I suppose it's because of the accidents, you know, before I left."

"When you couldn't control your magic?'

"Yeah. I suppose you could call that wandless." Harry opened his eyes and turned to look at Charlie, "I did it once before then, after the Dementors attacked my cousin and me near my aunt's house. Had to find my wand and I used lumos to find the wand. It lit up even though I wasn't holding it."

"Really?" Charlie sat back down in his chair. "From how far away?"

"I dunno, few feet."

"That's wandless, then."

"But I just had to find my wand because of the Dementors-"

"So you were focused on a single purpose and had a powerful motivation." Charlie nudged the book where it had fallen on the floor, "I bet if we read those three hundred pages that that's what it says to do."

"Dumbledore could it, I don't know of anyone else." Harry's voice clearly showed his disbelief that he match Dumbledore in ability.

Charlie laughed, "I don't think there wasn't much Dumbledore couldn't do-"

"Except be honest." Harry's face tightened, "He couldn't do that-"

Charlie cursed as he felt the first brush of magic against his skin. He crossed over to Harry's bed and grabbed Harry's hands. "Don't. Just let it go. Breathe."

Harry hissed at Charlie even as he closed his eyes and fought against the magic. Charlie tightened his grip on Harry's hands for ten counts and watched as Harry held his breath, he released his grip a little and Harry exhaled. Again and again. Gradually the color returned to Harry's face and the tremors of magic eased.

"Fuck. Sorry." Harry said at last. "I don't know why that keeps happening."

"It happens because you're stuck in a bed and you are used to being able to get angry, but you are too weak and your magic is building up. Even with the exercises Fenton is having you do."

"I hate being in this bed. I need to be able to move." Harry twisted restlessly in the bed, flinching at the pain as he did so.

"Well, you are going to have to deal with it for a couple more weeks," Charlie said a little more harshly than he felt, it wouldn't do any good for Harry to sink into self-pity. "You may as well make the most of it and try to learn how to manage your anger and get that magic of yours under control now."

"By doing wandless?" Harry rolled his eyes towards the book that had fallen on the floor. Charlie bent down and picked it up. He flipped through the pages, recognizing some vague names from Binn's History of Magic lessons.

Setting the book down, he realized he was still sitting on Harry's bed. Standing quickly he moved over to the chair, stretching his leg out as best he could. Looking up he saw that Harry was watching him with a curious expression on his face.

"Did you hurt your leg?"

"It's nothing, just a run in with a cranky momma," Charlie said as he bent down to look for Harry's wand that had rolled off of the table next to the bed. "What do you have to lose? It isn't like you have anything else to do."

"I could think of something else to do."

Charlie did a double take at the hint of suggestion in Harry's voice, but shook his head at the idea as he finally located Harry's wand. Picking it up he held it up in his open palm towards Harry.

"Wandless and non-verbal casting go hand-in-hand, from what I understand. Your wand is already linked to you, so it is a good place to start. Summon it. Close your eyes and put every thought into having your wand in your hand."

"Charlie, this is stup-"

"Just try. Close your eyes and will it into yours."

Harry looked like he was going to object but then closed his eyes, and Charlie watched as his face twisted in concentration. "Do it. Reach out with your hand and make your wand come to you."

Harry's right hand lifted and Charlie watched as his fingers reached out towards the wand in Charlie's hand, but it didn't even twitch. Harry's arms fell down to the bed and he shook his head, "Told you I couldn't do it."

"What one attempt and you don't think you can do it? That's like doing one turn around the Quidditch pitch and giving up on the snitch."

"You try it then."

"I'm not the one stuck in a bed with nothing but time on his hands," Charlie reached out and gave Harry's bed a shoved it with his foot, feeling only slightly guilty when Harry's hands flew to his abdomen. "Try again."

"Charlie."

"Harry," he said right back to him, with a little whine in his voice. Harry glared at him, and Charlie stared right back, holding up his hand with the wand just a little higher..

"Fine." Harry reached out with his hand as Charlie held up the wand again.

"Focus on one spot," said Charlie softly, he could feel the gentle touch of Harry's magic this time. "Don't let your magic just come out, concentrate it all-"

"I get it." Harry didn't open his eyes as he furrowed his brow in concentration. The wand rolled along Charlie's palm but then stopped. Harry's head fell back on his pillow, his eyes closed, he took a few shallow breaths.

"Rest and then try again."

Harry held up his finger in protest, not even bother to look at Charlie. After a few minutes he sighed and carefully sat up again. Charlie held up the wand again and Harry reached out for it with his and again, this timing closing his eyes as he concentrated on casting the spell.

The room was silent except for the crackle of the flames in the fireplace and the sound of rain hitting the windows. Charlie's breath caught as he felt the wand move slightly and then roll towards his fingertips, towards Harry.

He didn't dare say anything until he realized that everything was shifting towards Harry - the glass of water on the table, the book. The wand lifted ever so slightly but at the same time Charlie's chair shifted and slid across the floor with a jerk towards Harry's bed.

"Stop." Charlie looked at Harry whose fringe was clinging to the sweat on his forehead. He dropped his arm and sank against the pillow in relief.

"Well, that did something for certain. You moved the wand, the bed, even me." Charlie gave a laugh as he set the wand down on the table. "I think you'll need to work on focusing on just the object you want to summon.

Harry didn't say anything as he tried to catch his breath, his eyes tightly shut and his chest was heaving from the exercise.

"Need the pain potion?" Charlie asked, reaching for it at the same time.

Harry nodded and then shook his head. "No, that ointment. It helps the pain, but doesn't make me fall asleep right away."

"Sure." Charlie picked up the jar and went to sit on Harry's bed again as Harry shifted to make room as Charlie took the lid off the jar Harry pulled up his pajama top, revealing the wound that Charlie hadn't seen in a couple of days. He froze in place as he saw the torn flesh that was obviously healing but the Harry's skin was twisted and rough. "Mother of Merlin, Harry-"

"Others have had to deal with worse," Harry said tightly as he shifted to his left side. "Bill, Lavender, they have these kind of scars, but where everyone can see them."

"Just because others have it worse doesn't mean this isn't bad." Charlie gave himself a shake, remembering himself. He dug his fingers into the oily ointment. "Fenton said this stuff shouldn't sting or anything."

"No, it feels cool, and that helps." Harry put his arm over his face as Charlie reached out and started rubbing the ointment onto his skin. Charlie cursed Fenton as his fingers slid across Harry's chest and the smell of eucalyptus filled the air. He was too skinny by half, Charlie realized as he could feel Harry's ribs as well as see them. Dragging his fingers along the course of the wound it wasn't hard to remember that Harry was a patient. "You need to eat more, you're literally skin and bones."

"Yes, Molly." Harry said, his voice muffled and strained as he still had his face covered with his arms.

Charlie gave him a rap on his shoulder as punishment for the comment before reaching for more ointment where he had left the jar next to Harry's hips. He froze as he saw the tented blanket. Charlie sucked in air for just a second until he realized that Harry's body was just reacting as any eighteen year old male's would at getting a rubdown.

He probably had the same reaction when Fenton rubbed it on, which made Charlie inexplicably jealous. He forced himself to focus on the job at hand and nudged Harry, "Turn over, I'll get your back."

Harry hesitated and then shifted carefully to his side, facing away from Charlie. Smoothing the ointment onto Harry's side and back Charlie was all too aware of the raspiness of Harry's breathing, and knowing the cause of it made it hard to not let his hands drift lower than they needed to go. Sister's boyfriend, he reminded himself harshly, refusing to dwell on the fact that Harry was Ginny's gay _ex_-boyfriend.

"All done." Charlie said with relief and pulled Harry's top back down. "How about some of that soup?"

"Give me a minute," Harry said without turning around.

Charlie coughed into his fist and agreed, "Sure, I'll go get it ready, you rest." He walked away towards Fenton's office, glad to get away. Closing the door, he leaned against and did his own Zen breathing.

This was going to be a lot harder than he thought as he pressed a hand against his half-hard cock. How Harry, in the state he was in, could have such a reaction on him, he didn't know. He would move back to the yurts tomorrow night, he told himself firmly. It would be better for both of them.

Pushing away from the door he found the pot of soup that Fenton had left and gave it a tap with his wand to heat it up. Ladling some into a bowl he grabbed a spoon and a tin of crackers and walked back into the ward. Harry was resting against the pillows again, his cheeks flush from the warmth in the room.

"Better?"

"Yeah, the ointment helped a lot."

Charlie set down the soup and grabbed a couple more pillows so that he could sit a little more upright and then handed Harry the bowl of soup. "Eat up."

As Harry slowly sipped at the soup, Charlie sat down on the other bed and reached down to pull off his boots, letting them drop heavily on the floor. With a sigh of relief, he reached up and untied his hair, he keep it tightly bound when he was in camps but it was nice rubbing his hands through it.

Stretching out on the bed he filled Harry in on some of the different dragons that lived in the camps. There were over thirty different species of dragons spread throughout the camps and each were unique in their needs and habits.

"What about the Horntail, Maida, I think you called her. Is she going to hibernate?"

"No, Horntails are too ornery to hibernate." Charlie said with a laugh, "Especially Maida."

"Alec said that she was still acting up?" Harry pushed the bowl away and lay back again. "Do you think it is because of me?"

Charlie couldn't help but scowl at the other man's name but hid it as he flicked his wand at the empty bowl and turned to send it floating back to the office, "Considering that _Alec_ has only been here a few months he is hardly qualified to assess Maida's behavior."

"He's new?" Harry asked in surprise, "Seemed like he knows a lot about the dragons and everyone in the camps."

"Most he knows about is the co-workers he's given blow jobs to and those who've done him." Charlie said with a humorless laugh, "He isn't the type to stay because of the dragons, he'll get restless and move on as soon as the thrill is gone."

"Oh," Harry's face was flush again and Charlie regretted being so blunt, but he didn't want Harry having any misunderstanding about Alec's interest in him. He turned on his side to watch the expressions on Harry's face as he contemplated what Charlie had said, the boy's face was so transparent it was obvious that it bothered him.

"So, Alec, is gay?"

"Bi." Charlie shrugged, "Or more likely he just doesn't care who he partners with. He likes sex, and doesn't care if he is giving or receiving."

"Oh," Harry nodded as if he understood and then looked at Charlie and quickly looked away.

Charlie propped elbow on the bed and rested his head on his hand. "Go ahead, ask. I know you want to."

Harry flushed flame red as he looked at him, "Did you and he..."

"Not hardly, I prefer men with a little discretion. This stage in the game I've no interest in being just a notch on someone's broomstick."

"Oh."

"Anything else you wanted to know?"

"Are you bi?"

"Nope. Gay. Tits don't do anything for me." Charlie said with an easy smile. He had long ago come to terms with the fact that he preferred men over women. "What about you? Bi or gay?"

Harry hesitated before answering, "Gay, I think. but who knows? If you'd asked me ten days ago I would have said bi, probably. A year ago, I would have said straight without hesitation."

It was the most Harry had talked about what had happened and Charlie tensed in case there was a reaction but Harry just plucked restlessly at the blanket covering him. Charlie supposed that the energy he'd exerted trying to do the wandless had drained him.

"Want to talk about it? It might help to get some of it off your chest, if you can do it without getting angry."

"You probably know as much-as little- as I do." Harry turned to look at him briefly before staring back at the ceiling. "I'm sure they told you what happened at the trial, what we found out."

"Yeah, but I don't know what you think about it. Did you have any idea before-"

"Before I saw the memories of Draco Malfoy buggering me on a screen in front of the entire Wizengamot?" Harry was pale but there was still no reaction from his magic.

"If you want to put it that way."

"The potion had already worn off," Harry sounded tired and he shut his eyes again, "You know about the potion Dumbledore had given me to make me think that I was in love with Ginny?" Charlie nodded and Harry shifted restlessly on his bed before he continued, "That is why it was so hard this summer. She wanted to be with me and it just felt wrong and I didn't get that, because I had wanted her so much before. Even when we were hiding out, I would think about her."

"But you had already started thinking about men?"

"I had started noticing blokes, you know, _noticing_ them. And I would feel guilty, because I couldn't be gay, because of Ginny, but then I decided that maybe I was just bi, but that didn't explain why I didn't even want to kiss Ginny anymore but I was salivating at the thought of what it would be like to kiss the bartender at the Muggle pub down the street."

Charlie coughed, "What happened next?"

"The trial," Harry shifted in bed, and gasped in pain. He gripped his side for a moment and shook his head, "I can't talk about that, not-"

"Skip it. Ron said that after the healer at St. Mungo's lifted the spell they had been under, what was it called? Adcreda?"

"Adcredo. Trust charm, I think it is called. Dumbledore again. The healer removed it from all three of us, so it is gone."

"Ron said that that is when he remembered you telling him about being gay, during your fourth year."

"Can you believe that? I already knew I was gay by fourth year and I forgot? Or it was erased or whatever."

Charlie shifted so he could see Harry a little better, "Actually, I can believe it, I suspected that you might be leaning in that direction when we were at the World Cup."

"You didn't!" Harry's shock was apparent all over his face. "Did we talk? Did you ask me about it?"

"Hell, no. I'd just met you, wasn't about to ask a fourteen year old kid if he might be gay," laughed Charlie. "I noticed that you were watching men walk by, and you didn't get fazed by the Veelas like Ron. Next thing I knew, though, you were dating Ginny. I figured I'd been wrong or that maybe you were bi."

Harry rubbed his face with his hand, "This happening to Ginny isn't fair. She really loves-loved me. And I thought I felt the same way. I remember loving kissing her, gods, running my hands through her hair. And it turns out it was just the love potion. She must be so angry with me."

Charlie sat up and swung his legs over the edge of the bed, leaning towards Harry, "She is angry, but don't believe for a second that she is angry at you. She is angry at what happened to you, we all are, but none of us think it was your fault."

"What about the fact that I obviously had some kind of secret thing going on with Malfoy for I don't know how long?" The bitterness in Harry's voice was obvious, "I have no fucking clue what happened between us. Maybe I cheated on her with him? Or maybe I cheated on him with her? I've been lying here every day trying to figure out what happened, trying to remember and all I can think of is the images we saw in court, and in my dreams and I can't-"

"Wait, what dreams?"

Harry sighed and rubbed his eyes, "Dreams. Of Malfoy." he looked at Charlie. "I'm sure Ron told you about the nightmares I used to have. Because of Voldemort."

Charlie nodded. "Nightmares that were actually Voldemort's thoughts? Like the when the snake bit Dad? He told me those."

"I had dreams - nightmares with Voldemort, all the time. Most of the time they were just nightmares but sometimes they were actual things that were happening. And then when we were on the run I started having dreams with Malfoy. But they weren't like the others, they weren't scary, well the only thing scary about them was that Malfoy and I were doing stuff..." Harry yawned, "Those dreams felt so real. I would wake up and I would feel like something had been torn from me-" he blinked wearily at Charlie, trying to keep his eyes open.

Charlie wanted to learn more about Harry's dreams but knew it was time for him to sleep. "I think it is time to call it a night. I've got to be up at dawn and you can't keep your eyes open any longer."

Harry nodded and Charlie got up to take away the extra pillows behind Harry's back. As he leaned over to grab them, Harry reached up and touched Charlie's hair, running his fingers through it.

Charlie froze in place and Harry gave a groggy smile, "Just like Ginny's, pretty," He stroked Charlie's hair again and fell asleep. Charlie moved back to his bed and lay down. Most definitely time to move back to the camp, he thought to himself firmly.


End file.
